20 Things Only 30-Something Gamers Will Understand
15. Ocean Loader Music
People who say patience is a virtue obviously never spent hours trying to load a game in the 80s.
After what felt like hours of waiting if a title didn't boot up correctly it had the capacity to absolutely sour your mood and turn the air blue.
Syntax Error? You cannot be serious! Out of Memory? Come on, you're a computer! And probably the worst of all crimes... The R Tape Loading Error. Argh!
The reasons for the utter darkness that occasionally followed the agonising modem-like screeching included misaligned tape drives, dirty heads (stop laughing), not attending church and interference from nearby electronic gadgets like VHS recorders, fax machines and the neighbours Flymo.
But one thing made tape errors bearable... The distinctive Ocean Loader series by Martin Galway, Peter Clarcke and Jonathan Dunn. The three amigos of video game music together produced perhaps the most epic piece of craftsmanship known to man.
Made from emulated SID this harmonious, often haunting suite would precede titles like Batman, Operation Wolf, Rainbow Islands and Super Turrican 2.
Somehow having to hear these tracks over again during an attempted reload made the whole thing seem not so bad and today if any of these tracks catch your ear the 7 year-old inside of you will come bursting out.