snaper disc ryt@last part sim coupe external ram 1-4mb maybe 48 SNA from +D isciple can run at 6mhz press option 2 before you load any on put starion snap just after all the text of the demo or starglider after having docked?dunno wot it does to buzzer border port audio?
He is the guy! That's it! He created Manic Miner, a ZX Spectrum's reference all over the world! What he is, what he looks like, if he looks like messed up or not, that is not concern of ours. He is not Justin Bieber, for God sake!
Come on Manic miner was awful...it was then and it is now.. maybe like me you remember it with affection cos of being a kid. I would like to see what this guy could do with more modern equipment or console the xbox style arcade type games.
The guy looks messed up, an advert for saying no i think...................a legend?
@blackcountryme What an utter prat you sound. Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy are highly imaginative and ingeniously programmed, if you consider the limited memory we had then. Playability is great too. Also, why launch ad hominem attacks on his appearance?
Come on the poor sod is fried iv been there and done it.
As for the game I though it was utter sh**e with the memory we had then... WTF has that got to do with anything. games like saboteur, Turbo Esprit, Rainbow Islands, Robocop and shedloads of other stuff. Manic miner looked way to much like miner 2049er. So don't bother eh!
I know a lot of people who like this game...I think its crap. nuff said !!
sees the zx spextrum on the desk and remebers seing his own young hand pummeling it to death in frutration!! i even used to throw it out of the window!! always worked again!! hahaha
@nxn21 lol not quite, every game is based on another game, miner 49'er looks very same to donkey kong doesnt it... a platform a man a baddie... manic miner push the limits of platformer games adding conveyors, dissoliving platforms, far more complex rooms and more level than seen b4, all things now in EVERY platform game, then look at his next game JETSET WILLY and then diss him...
Agreed he reminds of Jack Sparrow but thanks to him i learned to play games when i was teenager hehe!We owe him many stuff !he is a silent legend!god bless you matthew!
Many hours lost in my child hood cause that bloody Bank level....... His mannerisms remind me of Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Carribean :-) Still play it on emulator every so often. Credit to British Talent !!
Yes he's a Legend. Manic MIner and Jet Set were the best games of their time. As for Matt seeming a bit jittery? He said on the video he lived in a commune in Holland for some time- You do the math Arpquadra!!
Gotts go- it's 25 years later and I still cant get past the bouncing letter at the bottom of the bank!! Keep her lit Matt!
hes just a normal guy, odd to some, a geek to others, he aint cool and he doesnt want to be, he's just a regular geek type, stale to some and vibrant to others, like people over forty who bought manic miner when it originally came out.
Did he become "very famous" back in the day? I was a 100% Speccy kid. I played Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy and had absolutely no idea who wrote them until much later in life when I got into "retro gaming"
I'm sure he was mentioned in magazines and such, but as a 10 year old I couldn't care less who wrote the games I was playing....
Not disputing his legendary status now, but I just don't remember any hero worship from that time personally.
Mat, I was a little bit older you at the time and I was very much aware of Matthew Smith's existence. There was a magazine around at the time called Crash (I think) which I would read and there were other Speccy / Computer games mags in which he'd get name-checked a lot. Kevin Toms (Football Manager) was another one who got name-checked alot (mostly by himself right enough) :)
PS. I am not a nerd :) I have a girfriend and everything.
nobody wants crappy graphics anymore, true , but think about what he got out of that machine - ON HIS OWN! the graphics werent crappy for that machine believe me.
incredible, deserved his massive success, and manic miner and jet set willy will always be some of my favourite platformers of all time.
Guys like Matthew Smith are the guys we should be seeing more interviews with - these programmers helped kickstart the industry we have today and there are so few documentaries.
I still have this documentary (Thumb Candy) on VHS, but I expected there'd be more by now, The King Of Kong is another good but biased (in favor of mud slinging at some genuinely good people, like Billy Mitchel & Walter Day, to make the story better) example.
@arpquadra he made a fortune on MM & JSW, and was 17 , must been quite pressured to replicate the success drug became his outlet. ended up in some monestry in holland fixing bikes for like 10 year before they realised he was there illegally and deported him
2:56 yes how very true now it takes many people working in many different departments 2 or 3 years to make ONE game costing millions. how simple it was back then.
Things have gone full circle a bit. You can still make a decent living from a back bedroom operation thanks to mobile phone games and Microsoft Indie Games, although it still usually takes a small team. Nobody wants crappy graphics or bells and whistles anymore, so either you're a programmer who's a wizard at graphics and audio or you're part of a small amateur team. But it can still be done.
Yes I see what you mean. But I was on about main stream games like Zelda or unreal tournament. He made that game which was just as good as the sort of games big development company were making back then.Today one person couldn't make a game as good as Perfect Dark zero or somthing along those lines.
What a great bloke! This was definitely gamings 'punk era'. Also, he was very perceptive at 17 when he said the day's of the one man game were going to end - I think Assassin's Creed 2 has about 400 people working on it.
After seeing this it's better not to have fame at all. They always end up either fucked over by the industry or poor and wasted lol. Even though I respect these artists it;s true though.
matthew smith no longer owns the rights , if you look at my previous comments on this that was his downfall, he took the cash, instead of a prfit sharing, bug byte software , who were based in liverpool owned the rights and i think, but not quite sure , that ocean software bought the rights or maybe it was an off shoot of theres called us gold , either way they were never owned by smith.
do be aware that it's likely he might not even own the rights to it anymore though. I have actually swapped e-mails with some big names in the C64 industry and they were all getting ripped off in the day. Talking major games here- all the authors got a couple of hundred and a handshake.
I agree he is a legend and gave us all hundreds of hours of childhood fun.
Now its payback time..How can we contact him and get him to make an iPhone version? He will be a millionaire in no time. I will even fund him to get him started.
that's very kind and charitable of you. Who knows maybe he just 'looks' out of it. A lot of game designers are funny introverted types who can't handle being in front of a camera without being 'influenced'.
I'm actually a game programmer myself, google EvilKris you'll see.
It'd be capable of doing a Manic Miner remake in Flash and could port it to the Iphone. If you do find Matthew, ask him what he thinks about a 40/60 deal his way.
He was actually enlightened. Even using a prefab engine now it takes an army of really good developers and content artists years to do competitive games. Independent devs can only slip in on small markets with trivial niche titles that are 2D and/or low content 3D.
I remember there a was a cheat: when loading, you stopped the tape and typed "POKE" some numbers I can't remember now and you got a lot of lives, instead of 3! That way I could complete the game!
A living legend. I used to think he was made of pixels and lived in a house full of monsters. Clearly lost his mind when he made this. He's what u would call an 'acid casualty.'
He also enjoyed living the high life ,which is why he has nothing now. The reason he is like he is in the video, is because of medication he takes for depression, as when he was finally on the downward slide of the manic miner and jetset willy releases, he turned to drugs again. He was supposed to release the third installment jetset willy meets the taxman, bu because he was constantly out of his head bug byte finally gave him the sack.
Matthew smith was as screwed up back in the days when he wrote manic miner as he is in this video, i know i worked with him. When he starting receiving the royalties for the game he became a complete tit and had his head so far up his own arse he expected everyone to think of him as a god. I admit the game was great but seriously the guy had a power issue that just made him unbearable.
It's not just eccentricity that makes him weird. I remember seeing footage of Smith at home in Amsterdam asking if he could "have some more Charlie" from his mum! I was sure that it was this documentary. It doesn't mention drugs on Wikipedia but it does say he was deported from Holland.
here here - I agree !!it was a transition jsut like the machine industry.commodore pet/vic/16/64/cpc464/acorn/bbc master/atart st/amiga yyyyyyyiiikkkkeeessss I am old...lol
Matt was an inspiration for me when I started producing computer games in the 80's. I created games for the Acorn Atom, Spectrum, C64, Atari and Amstrad CPC464. I then turned down a job offer from Alan Sugar to work at the family print business. What a mistake !!!!
Oh, he was waaayyy bigger than that. Think about it, he did the whole game himself AND was the first to prove that you could have music (ahem) playing constantly while you were playing the game.
Assembly language (what this game was written in) is a lot harder to learn than C++. Bear in mind, these older computers were a lot more unfriendly to program as it had to be done from scratch. Unlike today's applications where much of the system is already written for you.
Such a shame to see a genuine legend of the video games industry behaving like a lab rat. This one person shaped the first 6 to 8 years of my life. Dutch commune? More like Dutch narcotics...
Theres a nice interview in retro gamer with him, featuring his mum. He is an icon like jeff minter, bill hogue etc whether he likes it on not. It's a pity though what happened, the sharks ripped his talent off. The game industry is full of suits/middle men now, more worried about their jobs. Gone are the days where people were far creative and things, although simpler were normally far more playable. 3d engine anyone? lol
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velesoft.speccy.cz/sam_zx128.htm
snaper disc ryt@last part sim coupe external ram 1-4mb maybe 48 SNA from +D isciple can run at 6mhz press option 2 before you load any on put starion snap just after all the text of the demo or starglider after having docked?dunno wot it does to buzzer border port audio?
rogerjowett 3 weeks ago
the name of the program is thumb candy - total time 48.35
thestoowarren 3 weeks ago in playlist Computer Games
The program it came from is called Thumb Candy lasting 48.35
thestoowarren 3 weeks ago
Iain Lee!! What docu is this from? I wouldn't mind watching the whole thing.
DistantJ 3 weeks ago
He is the guy! That's it! He created Manic Miner, a ZX Spectrum's reference all over the world! What he is, what he looks like, if he looks like messed up or not, that is not concern of ours. He is not Justin Bieber, for God sake!
nilsondelourenco 1 month ago
Manic Miner is rubbish but so hard not to love :) (and I've born in the 90's)
This guy is strange though.
1xWertzui 2 months ago
I saw the host on Come Dine With Me, whats his name again?
bencheshire 3 months ago
@bencheshire Iain Lee.
MidtownSkyport 2 months ago
Never liked manic miner of JSW, now I've seen the author I like them even less!
giffgaff2010 3 months ago
That white Spectrum must be worth a fucking fortune.
bazfanv2 4 months ago
@bazfanv2
if its a one of a kind it would be priceless
OhNoNotMyPenis 1 month ago
@OhNoNotMyPenis It is a one off. The millionth spectrum made. I think Sir Clive owns it.
bazfanv2 1 month ago
Nice to see Smith has clearly been living in the Spectrum, slowly loosing his mind, turning him into CatWeazle
lakepalmer 4 months ago
Top tank top Matthew Smith
lakepalmer 4 months ago
10 print "off his trolly on crack"
20 goto 10
MrKoksuka 4 months ago
he was a kid genius, burnt out like they all do.
Gonzoidz 4 months ago
He's defo twatted himself on drugs in Holland
effes33 5 months ago
I still play Manic Minor now, its just soo playable.
05Rudey 5 months ago
he is the manic miner.....
t1000eg 6 months ago
Is it me or does he look raving mad lol
add996 6 months ago
Come on Manic miner was awful...it was then and it is now.. maybe like me you remember it with affection cos of being a kid. I would like to see what this guy could do with more modern equipment or console the xbox style arcade type games.
The guy looks messed up, an advert for saying no i think...................a legend?
blackcountryme 7 months ago
@blackcountryme What an utter prat you sound. Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy are highly imaginative and ingeniously programmed, if you consider the limited memory we had then. Playability is great too. Also, why launch ad hominem attacks on his appearance?
soulsinger73 5 months ago
@soulsinger73 LOL. monkey!
Come on the poor sod is fried iv been there and done it.
As for the game I though it was utter sh**e with the memory we had then... WTF has that got to do with anything. games like saboteur, Turbo Esprit, Rainbow Islands, Robocop and shedloads of other stuff. Manic miner looked way to much like miner 2049er. So don't bother eh!
I know a lot of people who like this game...I think its crap. nuff said !!
blackcountryme 5 months ago
No offence, how is he a legend?
AutomatonGames 8 months ago
This guy is a legend.
I wonder what happened to Chris Lancaster who did the Speccie conversion to the C64
gusbun 9 months ago
sees the zx spextrum on the desk and remebers seing his own young hand pummeling it to death in frutration!! i even used to throw it out of the window!! always worked again!! hahaha
1kicka1 9 months ago
Comment removed
mildredsmittens 10 months ago 4
i like this guy a lott hes a real sound charecter i wish him all the best
themooseOFpower 1 year ago 5
I have manic miner on my ipad.
al3x68 1 year ago
What kind of the TV set (or TV monitor) in room of Matthew Smith ?
iberdeev 1 year ago
You can tell this guy has taken a lotta lotta acid
majomista 1 year ago
@majomista He actually did.
sub2me4areview 1 year ago
i would love to do some coke with this man
studas2011 1 year ago
@studas2011 Lol ! :D
Edam3000 10 months ago
Really don't know what this guy did. He admits to completely ripping off another mans idea, name and all.
nxn21 1 year ago
@nxn21 lol not quite, every game is based on another game, miner 49'er looks very same to donkey kong doesnt it... a platform a man a baddie... manic miner push the limits of platformer games adding conveyors, dissoliving platforms, far more complex rooms and more level than seen b4, all things now in EVERY platform game, then look at his next game JETSET WILLY and then diss him...
rogue72uk 9 months ago
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I love his reaction to the rumour "You worked as a fish seller?" at 5:38
quadrant0127 1 year ago
Why do genius Brits feel the need to work in a fish gutting industry??? As if Joie (the synth wiz from Ozric Tentacles) wasn't enough ...
Tentacleed 1 year ago
I'm guessing he spent all that money on weed and booze lol...
Explodius1990 1 year ago
This bloke defined the 1980s for me. It's a shame he seems such a geek - totally shattered the illusion of a superhero.
DaveJP1973 1 year ago
@DaveJP1973 I think he's cool in his own weird way!!
DeepDean 1 year ago
Agreed he reminds of Jack Sparrow but thanks to him i learned to play games when i was teenager hehe!We owe him many stuff !he is a silent legend!god bless you matthew!
kakabixlis 1 year ago
Many hours lost in my child hood cause that bloody Bank level....... His mannerisms remind me of Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Carribean :-) Still play it on emulator every so often. Credit to British Talent !!
philb666 1 year ago
Yes he's a Legend. Manic MIner and Jet Set were the best games of their time. As for Matt seeming a bit jittery? He said on the video he lived in a commune in Holland for some time- You do the math Arpquadra!!
Gotts go- it's 25 years later and I still cant get past the bouncing letter at the bottom of the bank!! Keep her lit Matt!
:o)
markyflynn 1 year ago
hes just a normal guy, odd to some, a geek to others, he aint cool and he doesnt want to be, he's just a regular geek type, stale to some and vibrant to others, like people over forty who bought manic miner when it originally came out.
notanfningain 1 year ago
man is a legend
vladabuba 1 year ago
He did seem slightly baked! Nice closing words tho.
batlin 1 year ago
this man is great
gombabacsi 1 year ago
legend
snotnosedlilkid 1 year ago
I think he is a eccentric entity!
TheMarkMathers 1 year ago
he went to holland in '95
and looking at his eyes, he ain't come back since (smack em up)
killingjokefan1 1 year ago 2
@killingjokefan1 LoL - That comment made me laugh. Nice one.
JollyRodders 1 year ago
Drugged out of his tits
MegaGoat 1 year ago
What a stoner.
wootlanter 1 year ago
So, anyone know what happened to turn him into a gurning, twitching, goggle-eyed freak?
wideheadofknowledge 1 year ago
Hehe , ten Matthew Smith nevyzera byt kompletny...
klonkopytlik 2 years ago
True pioneers !
Realmasterorder 2 years ago 2
Great video!
AlRasuwl 2 years ago
Did he become "very famous" back in the day? I was a 100% Speccy kid. I played Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy and had absolutely no idea who wrote them until much later in life when I got into "retro gaming"
I'm sure he was mentioned in magazines and such, but as a 10 year old I couldn't care less who wrote the games I was playing....
Not disputing his legendary status now, but I just don't remember any hero worship from that time personally.
mathowlett 2 years ago 5
Mat, I was a little bit older you at the time and I was very much aware of Matthew Smith's existence. There was a magazine around at the time called Crash (I think) which I would read and there were other Speccy / Computer games mags in which he'd get name-checked a lot. Kevin Toms (Football Manager) was another one who got name-checked alot (mostly by himself right enough) :)
PS. I am not a nerd :) I have a girfriend and everything.
roonsa 2 years ago 4
[Nerd mode] 0:56 - Gosub on a Speccy! ;-) [/Nerd mode]
Coagulus 2 years ago
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No offend, Mathew looks like a perverted homo criminalist livin' on the street!
TheChanel46 2 years ago
@TheChanel46 lol
baobaojames123 1 year ago
He really had to think about whether or not he sold fish for a living
mattjreid 2 years ago
The Master.
rudeydudey05 2 years ago
I still play Manic Miner and Jetset Willy, I think jetset willy 2 is the best out of the JSW trilogy.
CoolDudeClem 2 years ago
nobody wants crappy graphics anymore, true , but think about what he got out of that machine - ON HIS OWN! the graphics werent crappy for that machine believe me.
incredible, deserved his massive success, and manic miner and jet set willy will always be some of my favourite platformers of all time.
tiradeoftruth 2 years ago 9
@tiradeoftruth: I like the graphics of this game, even tough I'm 21.
GuanoPadano 1 year ago
Guys like Matthew Smith are the guys we should be seeing more interviews with - these programmers helped kickstart the industry we have today and there are so few documentaries.
I still have this documentary (Thumb Candy) on VHS, but I expected there'd be more by now, The King Of Kong is another good but biased (in favor of mud slinging at some genuinely good people, like Billy Mitchel & Walter Day, to make the story better) example.
Almuric7 2 years ago 10
Prophet
tellyisrubbish 2 years ago 3
Seems like a really good guy who feels a bit uncomfortable in his own skin.
This guy made great games and is obviously very intelligent,I wonde if he has had some kind of breakdown because he seems very jittery.
Hope he is ok he seems nice
arpquadra 2 years ago 27
Happens to a lot of intelligent people, they burn out then retreat from society for a while to recharge the mental batteries.
8824snipe 2 years ago 2
Looks like he is or was on druggs :/ But lets hope hot...
murray821 2 years ago
@murray821 Why hope not?
BobCassidy 2 years ago
Do you wish someone to be an addict/junky?
murray821 2 years ago
Doing drugs doesnt make you an addict or a junky! Reckon he may smoke the odd bit though looking at those eyes.
BobCassidy 2 years ago 2
@BobCassidy Yeah man he looks fucked lol. He looks like he has no idea whats going on.
thepryest 2 years ago
@thepryest i know like he went on drugs in the 90s or something
baobaojames123 1 year ago
@arpquadra he made a fortune on MM & JSW, and was 17 , must been quite pressured to replicate the success drug became his outlet. ended up in some monestry in holland fixing bikes for like 10 year before they realised he was there illegally and deported him
rogue72uk 9 months ago
2:56 yes how very true now it takes many people working in many different departments 2 or 3 years to make ONE game costing millions. how simple it was back then.
CornishCreamtea07 2 years ago
Things have gone full circle a bit. You can still make a decent living from a back bedroom operation thanks to mobile phone games and Microsoft Indie Games, although it still usually takes a small team. Nobody wants crappy graphics or bells and whistles anymore, so either you're a programmer who's a wizard at graphics and audio or you're part of a small amateur team. But it can still be done.
Daiabolical 2 years ago 3
Yes I see what you mean. But I was on about main stream games like Zelda or unreal tournament. He made that game which was just as good as the sort of games big development company were making back then.Today one person couldn't make a game as good as Perfect Dark zero or somthing along those lines.
CornishCreamtea07 2 years ago
True and without the wright brothers we wouldn't have the Boeing 747.
8824snipe 2 years ago
Thank you Matthew for creating first computer game I loved. Salute.
markosimic74 2 years ago 4
What a great bloke! This was definitely gamings 'punk era'. Also, he was very perceptive at 17 when he said the day's of the one man game were going to end - I think Assassin's Creed 2 has about 400 people working on it.
anothershitusername 2 years ago 4
mans a legend. when can we expect a next gen version ?
Montymole21 2 years ago 2
I loved this game but he now seems like a homeless Vietnam Veteran lol Could see him walking into tesco with a machine gun.
He seems a nice guy though, clearly went bonkers and lost all his money though.
ojideagu 2 years ago 2
After seeing this it's better not to have fame at all. They always end up either fucked over by the industry or poor and wasted lol. Even though I respect these artists it;s true though.
royalsteven 2 years ago 2
Good work Iain, and Matthew: your games were inspirational! They inspired me to not settle for a job that didn't involve playing computer games :-)
horganator 2 years ago 2
Something that impressed me when playing jet set willy was going up and down the slopes/stairs. The platforming was very well realised.
malad1 2 years ago 4
bbc4 are doing a movie on sir clive sinclair around october.maker of this game deffo did LOADSA drugs.reminds me of the dealer guy in withnail and i
bealerDSB 2 years ago
I love his reaction to the rumour "You worked as a fish seller?" at 5.37
quadrant0127 2 years ago 5
2003ish (As he said its 20 years since he wrote manic miner) Making him about 37.
rudeydudey05 2 years ago
He looks healthier now even though he's much older. Its like he didn't age. What year is this tv special from?
StopFear 2 years ago
matthew smith no longer owns the rights , if you look at my previous comments on this that was his downfall, he took the cash, instead of a prfit sharing, bug byte software , who were based in liverpool owned the rights and i think, but not quite sure , that ocean software bought the rights or maybe it was an off shoot of theres called us gold , either way they were never owned by smith.
scousemartin 2 years ago
do be aware that it's likely he might not even own the rights to it anymore though. I have actually swapped e-mails with some big names in the C64 industry and they were all getting ripped off in the day. Talking major games here- all the authors got a couple of hundred and a handshake.
EvilKris 2 years ago
.......
what-ever the-damn of unknown substance he abused of?!?
Jet Set Willy was beyond trippy though. Wich made it awesome. Nothing made sense in it, it was very creative. Adorable.
I guess he became pretty much like Willy himself. He became his work. Awesome. Yeah.
duckotaco 2 years ago 8
First game i ever played at home apart from the Atari 2600 stuff :)
Realmasterorder 2 years ago
Man, MILLIONS of people have played that game.
Seeing that dude so f*cked up on whatever he's taking is almost as heart-breaking as say, hearing that your favourite movie-star has got Alzheimers.
EvilKris 2 years ago
I agree he is a legend and gave us all hundreds of hours of childhood fun.
Now its payback time..How can we contact him and get him to make an iPhone version? He will be a millionaire in no time. I will even fund him to get him started.
youtubillionaire 2 years ago 4
that's very kind and charitable of you. Who knows maybe he just 'looks' out of it. A lot of game designers are funny introverted types who can't handle being in front of a camera without being 'influenced'.
I'm actually a game programmer myself, google EvilKris you'll see.
It'd be capable of doing a Manic Miner remake in Flash and could port it to the Iphone. If you do find Matthew, ask him what he thinks about a 40/60 deal his way.
EvilKris 2 years ago
Cocaine is a hell of a drug!
cybersalad 2 years ago
He looks like Gary Oldman on acid.
Top man tho. Loved Manic Miner, which was like Acid for 10 year olds.
rudeydudey05 2 years ago
Absolute Genius.
manicminer100 2 years ago
Comment removed
manicminer100 2 years ago
He was actually enlightened. Even using a prefab engine now it takes an army of really good developers and content artists years to do competitive games. Independent devs can only slip in on small markets with trivial niche titles that are 2D and/or low content 3D.
tjc0der 2 years ago
Matthew Smith has has obviously become addicted to smack.
Jamiethewookie 2 years ago
no thats not smack thats to many good E's for the 90s when pills and tabs where like sitting with god and everyone was ur mate
ollybgm 2 years ago
this was the first video game i ever saw and it blew me away way back then . still a brilliant game . much respect.
maxim54321 2 years ago
Matthew Smith is a living legend, I would like to know him
C++ x86 assembler
vladabuba 2 years ago
however he is a legend
andyfoggy 2 years ago
he IS high!!
andyfoggy 2 years ago
OMG this guy looks totally high on something...lol.
I remember Jet Set Willy on Amstrad...great game.
macdeath69 2 years ago
Bow to the man who started it all in my opinion.
We are most definitely not worthy.
You are a true ledge Matthew. A true ledge ^^
Frankbrodie2009 2 years ago
0:22 LOL "whats this?" - ·that´s the Printer"
What a genius.
netwalker72 2 years ago
Get on to the led zep and Floyd pics on his wall, looks like Mathew used his money off Manic Minor and indulged in some heavy drug use.
Good man. LOL
BLAGASPANTS 2 years ago
Love it. So great to have the name
behind the game. These games
were created by engineers and
artists. Very talented people when
you think about it. I enjoyed this posting
and Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy were
two games I remember very well.
Now the name Mathew Smith will be
remembered too.
Retrogamer71 2 years ago
"Acne ridden, wispy haired bedroom programmers" - I hate how programmers get that stereotype.
When I was young I learned programming on the C64. I had neither acne nor wispy hair and I've had more fanny than the presenter!
Hail Mathew Smith btw, legend
zombiemod 2 years ago
I remember there a was a cheat: when loading, you stopped the tape and typed "POKE" some numbers I can't remember now and you got a lot of lives, instead of 3! That way I could complete the game!
It was fun :)
beppemaniglia 3 years ago
memories :)!
bojan34 3 years ago
LEGEND
brokenrealm 3 years ago
Sad. A certifiable genious relegated to applying for fish gutting jobs.
spaceman1979 3 years ago 2
he seems insane
Wolfenhords 3 years ago 3
A living legend. I used to think he was made of pixels and lived in a house full of monsters. Clearly lost his mind when he made this. He's what u would call an 'acid casualty.'
johnedsel 3 years ago 2
lol so true.
SteveFusionX 3 years ago
you can get Manic Minor as a dashboard plugin for Macs, I still can't get past the 8th fucking level! (25 years on!)
Zoixlive 3 years ago
I met matt in Holland and he is a really nice person!
zackiejay 3 years ago
"Python-esque foot" Only 6 tries to understand that.
PinchySkree 3 years ago
I was playing MM last night. I can't get off the first screen ffs!
Terminator860 3 years ago
Have you tried pressing some keys?
ifedthehorse 3 years ago
to be honest no. I've packet the speccy away in the attic and am enjoying call of duty 3 on x box 360.
Terminator860 3 years ago
How much?
Foulcrook 2 years ago
He also enjoyed living the high life ,which is why he has nothing now. The reason he is like he is in the video, is because of medication he takes for depression, as when he was finally on the downward slide of the manic miner and jetset willy releases, he turned to drugs again. He was supposed to release the third installment jetset willy meets the taxman, bu because he was constantly out of his head bug byte finally gave him the sack.
scousemartin66 3 years ago
wow. ...thanks for the inside info man.
EvilKris 2 years ago
Matthew smith was as screwed up back in the days when he wrote manic miner as he is in this video, i know i worked with him. When he starting receiving the royalties for the game he became a complete tit and had his head so far up his own arse he expected everyone to think of him as a god. I admit the game was great but seriously the guy had a power issue that just made him unbearable.
scousemartin66 3 years ago
It's not just eccentricity that makes him weird. I remember seeing footage of Smith at home in Amsterdam asking if he could "have some more Charlie" from his mum! I was sure that it was this documentary. It doesn't mention drugs on Wikipedia but it does say he was deported from Holland.
feraljim 3 years ago
Hang on does he still live with his parents?
Terminator860 3 years ago
Bless him. I wonder what he's doing now in 2008.
Terminator860 3 years ago
Matthew Smith is indeed, a legend.
polarsequence 3 years ago
by far..I agree...there are also some great 'sequels' available via the internet...I spent many happy hours on JSW.
groovecriminal 3 years ago
Loved the games back in the 1980s. It is shame that he has obviously had a few issues since writing the games.
CityGov 3 years ago
Matthew Smith is a CRAZY GOD!! lol.. Check out my Manic Miner reveiw by the way! Cheers ;o)
interghost 3 years ago
bullshit, anyone who did z80 knows the score. it's another world of programming, only those who knew it will understand
mazz75 3 years ago
here here - I agree !!it was a transition jsut like the machine industry.commodore pet/vic/16/64/cpc464/acorn/bbc master/atart st/amiga yyyyyyyiiikkkkeeessss I am old...lol
bealerDSB 3 years ago
Keep feeling 'fascination' by the Human League
Dude had some skills, and some drugs by the looks of him.
defender1968 3 years ago
What song is it playing at 1:20? Its on Vice City isnt it?
dansprattuk 3 years ago
i think the music is Human League
thestoowarren 3 years ago
It's Fascination by the Human League, released in 1983.
polarsequence 3 years ago
Matt was an inspiration for me when I started producing computer games in the 80's. I created games for the Acorn Atom, Spectrum, C64, Atari and Amstrad CPC464. I then turned down a job offer from Alan Sugar to work at the family print business. What a mistake !!!!
webuk44 3 years ago
Whatever you say about matthew smith you can't take away the fact that Jet Set Willy is a classic retro game.
HellNight7 3 years ago
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how much l.s.d. has this guy consumed?
either that or he's got early parkinson's.
also, he's the image of catweasel
cheapy2006 3 years ago
His a bit strange but funny :)
I love the games. Check Andy Noble port to PC. He did Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy
Pixiez 3 years ago
lmao pause 3:59
smnk3 3 years ago
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He does look a little bit retarded..
Xerothn 3 years ago
Clive Sinclair's got a dirty...
gelfling12345 3 years ago
cock, mind, laugh, arse, house TELL ME TELL ME WHAT'S THE ANSWER?!?!?!?
cheapy2006 3 years ago
legend
4096x 3 years ago
Think how much money Smith would have made now !! He was the equivalent of a C++ programmer now.
vikesh81 3 years ago
Oh, he was waaayyy bigger than that. Think about it, he did the whole game himself AND was the first to prove that you could have music (ahem) playing constantly while you were playing the game.
Razieluk 3 years ago 3
Assembly language (what this game was written in) is a lot harder to learn than C++. Bear in mind, these older computers were a lot more unfriendly to program as it had to be done from scratch. Unlike today's applications where much of the system is already written for you.
Andyteetwo 3 years ago 2
Excellent clip..a legend of the gaming world and his game still is a classic..glad I can now play this game on my PC...best wishes to Matthew.
Mystscot 3 years ago
He's still a legend and his games have been ported to numrious platforms and still fun to play.
meman887 3 years ago
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Spectrum four eyes
malad1 3 years ago
Matthew Smith was a legend 20 years ago in my eyes and always will be.
snotnosedlilkid 3 years ago 2
After eugenes lair my nerves started going!
snotnosedlilkid 3 years ago 2
Great video, many thanks.
Such a shame to see a genuine legend of the video games industry behaving like a lab rat. This one person shaped the first 6 to 8 years of my life. Dutch commune? More like Dutch narcotics...
Again, great video.
monkeymrw 3 years ago
It's sad to see the "then and now" of Matthew Smith.
17678P 3 years ago
Theres a nice interview in retro gamer with him, featuring his mum. He is an icon like jeff minter, bill hogue etc whether he likes it on not. It's a pity though what happened, the sharks ripped his talent off. The game industry is full of suits/middle men now, more worried about their jobs. Gone are the days where people were far creative and things, although simpler were normally far more playable. 3d engine anyone? lol
cosine303 3 years ago
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my opinion exactly :)
unklekarma 3 years ago
Matthew smoked too much pot since MM ?
ninjamypinja 3 years ago 2
Pot?
Everything else I would say :D
unklekarma 3 years ago
Triple respect Matthew, and thanks for the games!
step1970 3 years ago 4