Interview with Matthew Smith | Maker of Manic Miner (ZX Spectrum Game) | From Bedrooms To Billions

Taken from the fascinating true documentary film "From Bedrooms To Billions" available here: www.funstockretro.co.uk/from-bedrooms-to-billions-standard-edition
This clip is an interview with 'Matthew Smith' the Creator of the classic ZX Spectrum game "Manic Miner".
Why We LOVE 'From Bedrooms to Billions'!
===================================
"From Bedrooms to Billions is the definitive documentary on the UK video games industry. It features virtually every personality you can imagine from the golden age of gaming, with exclusive interviews shot for this movie. It is expertly crafted by veteran film makers with a strong passion for the games industry - and this passion shines through. It is an absolute MUST see for anyone with even the slightest interest in gaming. It's a fascinating story, told by fascinating people." - Andy Pearson, General Manager, Funstock.co.uk
Everything You Need To Know!
===================================
From Bedrooms to Billions tells the incredible true story of the pioneers of the British video games industry. As home computer technology development gathered pace in the 1970’s and 1980’s computers such as the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, BBC Micro and later the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST saw a generation of small team enthusiasts, hobbyists, school kids, and entrepreneurs emerge.
The film journeys through those early 8-bit game design years, the transition into the 16-bit era and PC, the influence of the Japanese and American consoles (Sega Mega Drive, Nintendo SNES), the availability of finance caused by rising development costs, right through to the present day of big budget triple A games, indie development and the future.
Their creativity and vision, along with those that followed allowed the UK to play a key role in the shaping of the largest entertainment business in the world today, the billion dollar video games industry!
The film reveals some of the remarkable stories, struggles and successes that saw the UK video games industry go from quite literally nothing into a major force littered with original thinkers, innovators and eccentric characters.
Featuring interviews with Mark Healey (Little Big Planet), Ian Livingstone (Tomb Raider), Peter Molyneux (Populous), Jeff Minter (TxK), David Braben (Elite Dangerous), David Perry (Earthworm Jim), Mark Cerny (Sonic the Hedgehog 2) and many others from across video game development, publishing and journalism from over the last 40 years, combined with compelling archive footage and music.
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[@EricTViking]

We all owe Matthew a huge debt of gratitude. Much respect 👍

[@Ytnzy250]

Shame he never got paid for his endeavors. No wonder he is disillusioned with the industry.

[@MOSMASTERING]

I was born in 82, I had to wake up at 6am to play jet set willy before school when 'i was 5. 'i love it to this day. Memories... I love matthew smith for that.

[@mikeywong5749]

Am proud to say that Matthew 'From Earth' Smith is my half-brother :) Legend.

[@scottieburr]

Seriously?

[@GEricG]

@Tony Bernardo keyboard warrior.

[@pete3122]

You sound like a wong‘un to me

[@PrAnG2000]

Bless him. I hope he's happy within himself. Brought joy to my childhood.

[@Zakalwe-01]

Played it on release, and still play it now. Matthew Smith and Mike Singleton are the two great geniuses of the ZX Spectrum. I’m still playing Lords of Midnight too.

[@OnlYYlnO]

Great days and memories. Sitting in a cold bedroom at 3 AM trying to master the Solar Power Generator, is something I'll never forget. Addictive? Yes! God bless you Matthew Smith...

[@kevinworm3548]

Matthew smith along with Ultimate play the game - were the two best games developers of the spectrum era. Matthew will always be a legend of the 1980's and his games were amongst the very best on the spectrum

[@daddad7453]

Thank You Matthew This is the first game I ever played back in '85 , I was 6 Great memories you are a Legend

[@gmonkman]

Genius, i mean, you look at MS and you know he could of had a different path, and would of been classed as a genius with the right nurturing. But as long as he is happy. He has made me happy, and millions of others,

[@johnny5805]

He was there at the beginning in 1983 inventing 'impossible' stuff like multi-channel sound, and an in-game soundtrack that didn't screw up the screen speed. Matt did it first. He is a genius. Imagine what he could have achieved if he had carried on through to 1992. I hope that in the 10 years since this documentary was made, that he has got his life back together.

[@rusrad74]

Probably one of my fondest game memories, thank you Matthew Smith!

[@fandabidozi3191]

Timeless games. Matt is a genius.

[@EGC316]

Total legend. Up there with the Stamper brothers (Ultimate). Best wishes Matthew.

[@EricBarbman]

This man helped me truly understand what a pixel was when I was 10. An early knowledge that determined the first 2 decades of my career. I wish I could thank him for it.

[@daibonehead]

I wish I had a percentage of his intelligence and genius, and I wish he had a percentage of my more stable personality. Would be a fair trade and benefit us both immeasurably.

[@waysilentbob6976]

First computer I ever used was a TRS80. 10 PRINT “Iain is a nob”; 20 GOTO 10. I can still feel every level of this game. 37 years later, nothing much has changed. Playing God of War and Dirt Rally this morning. Living the dream!

[@isyt1]

So funny. Exactly like my first ever program

[@PitmanTrainingGroup]

First time I've heard 'Double-Buffering' for a good 20 years!

[@jasongoodacre]

The guy didnt know it at the time but he undoubtedly created the best Spectrum game ever.

[@baardbi]

Matthew Smith seems like such an interesting and nice guy. I would love to hear more of his gaming / programming stories.

[@mikedixon9089]

I can only hope how much he knows how much he influenced people like me with my favourite game of all time manic miner 15yrs old blew my mind I’m now an electronics engineer working for one of the worlds biggest automotive components manufacturers good life thank you mate xxx

[@WillScarlet1991]

He's got some new teeth since this interview.

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

Good to hear. I wonder what happened? Did he have a bout with drugs and/or alcohol? Meth users almost always have major issues with their teeth falling out.

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

@Gianluca Badejo It's a shame that even the best of us can "fall through the cracks" sometimes. Smart dude, though, for sure.

[@leeguest9133]

Imagine the difference if Matthew Smith had been living in Japan and working for Nintendo. In Britain, programmers/game designers seemed to be treated less as artists/creators and more as employees. Shigheru Myamoto may well have done only a couple of games (if that, given he is not a coder) had he been working in 1980s Britain.

[@SteveFusionX]

Very true

[@sillypookmonster]

I met him about 16 years ago. Really fun guy to hang out with.

[@johnpeelslovechild]

So gifted. Figuring out the breadboard to connect the TRS-80. I always wondered how code for the spectrum was developed. As a 13yr old, I always imagined they did it by saving to tape and fingers crossed it worked first time.

[@dobythedog]

If ever there was an example of not judging a book by it's cover, it is this.

[@BennettStevens22]

I think he deserves new teeth. I have false teeth too. If there was a fund started for him i would give 5 bucks

[@simodo11]

Just a natural genius to program a game like this,at such a young age. He doesn’t look well,but nothing wrong with his mind . Hope he is ok

[@letsdiscussitoversometea8479]

Nothing wrong with his mind. I'm surprised you can say this, given exactly what we're looking at on screen. What does an "unhealthy mind" look like in your estimation? I'll tell you what mine is: Somebody who can't form their words effectively and deliver them clearly and confidently. Also, his facial muscles seem to suggest he isn't relaxed, but rather, straining himself to appear "with it" - possibly owing to experiencing isolation from other people.

[@wodenoftheangles3339]

Up there with Dave Braben's & Ian Bell's Elite for influence on my computing youth!

[@malmes999]

Genius in my childhood legend go past the way he looks manic miner was the best spectrum 80's game period ...remember poke line 10 i think to cheat it can't remember what i had to do for unlimited lives after that ..but it was the best game IMO .Matthew = respect top speccy programmer.

[@konamikookoo5629]

This guy Is a freaking genius.

[@FightingCoward]

I bloody loved this game, still play it now occasionally. Still never finished it.

[@qwanathomas735]

Thank you Matthew.

[@ZxSpectrum777]

legend

[@simonw7284]

great video. I love this game. THANK YOU Matt Smith x

[@isrbillmeyer]

Legend Spend many hours playing Manic Miner Still sometimes load an emulator to play some of it again for nostalgic reasons.

[@jchanning72]

An eccentric genius, I hope he is looking after his health now as he does not look well here. Imagine if everyone who had played his games had actually paid for them! Back in 1983 copying cassettes of computer games was incredibly common and I can remember many C90s being handed around at school stuffed full of the latest titles. Manic Miner was and still is, a classic, thank-you Michael for creating it.

[@user-kl9wk6kq6l]

From distant memory when I looked into the code it was a BASIC save of 32k block of memory followed by the running the game, so I guess that saved the code to tape, then, when loaded back it continued and ran?

[@studas2011]

Does Matthew Smith still do conventions? Would be cool to hear him talk in person.

[@johnsmith8829]

Thank you for your games and genius. Not all showing with lucrative riches but hey what is riches anyway? Those games were magic!!

[@esrtdtut]

The first platformer I ever played.

[@Arcadiality]

Watched this today on DVD.Very weird timing. Great documentary.We really didn't see the console market coming!! I always feel sad for Matthew Smith when I see him today. The drugs seriously don't work. Talented guy however.

[@danielt.8573]

Indeed he looks awful. I sincerely wish him the best. He and Clive made my childhood and the childhood of millions a lot happier and we'll never forget them.

[@MikeNewlyn]

absolute legend this guy :)

[@hernancoronel]

How about creating a gofundme for Matthew and everybody who enjoyed his games can chip in some money? I would surely chip in, I am older now and have far more resources I had back then and could easily chip in much more than whatever made it back to him at that time. Hopefully he could use that to move forward in life and maybe even get back to coding, who knows? Thanks for the awesome video!

[@mmestari]

@hernanc He will just waste it on drugs and get even worse, what's the point?

[@stephenelliott7071]

A young genius and legend.

[@malmes999]

he was

[@davelister1]

He is a Legend !

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

I'm not sure what he meant by saying that you couldn't do double-buffering on the C64. Did I hear that right? If so, that's incorrect.

[@Nautilus1972]

Legend.

[@ZEUSDAZ]

I can still complete it on the ZX without losing a life, took me a couple of weeks around 30mins a day to suss it but now I can complete it pretty much every time, classic,.....but I still prefer Chuckie Egg :-)

[@malcolmstevens2838]

Ooooh yeah, Chuckie Egg was also my preference. I think it was the faster speed of it

[@pcsocket462ecsviak7vza]

can u make the parallel port on disciple /mb-02+ do this...

[@jjarvis007]

genius, wish i had a trs-80 when i was his age though. well jel !

[@ZXSpectrum128K]

u should sell the Vero board and offer modifications to all zx spectrum parallel interfaces

[@shifty2755]

The Oliver twins are also legends.

[@pcsocket462ecsviak7vza]

what model trs80?

[@Twirlyhead]

Fantastic game.

[@kennethocongerskin9460]

Legend 👍

[@ChubbyChecker182]

Genius

[@vieuetcon]

This game was mythic!!

[@firelance7921]

guys a legend hes was on thumb bandits in 2000 he had a full set of teeth..i think. Shame really

[@apemoon1731]

I though that was Jack Dee on the thumbnail.

[@zxspectrum16KB]

Now runs at 6mhz on sam coupé please let matthew know

[@peter486]

creative souls needs shelter. and a safe involvement very sad to see this..

[@cpcnw]

The older I get, the better I used to be. Wonder what the last thing was Matthew programmed?

[@mustertherohirrim7315]

On the final level the box flashed with 'secret message' a sword and a fish. Does anybody remember? I won a prize from c&vg magazine. 4 cassette games came in post. Jet set willy. That bee one? Anyway..

[@jesusnuclear]

I remember! So you won, congrats!

[@ZaPpaul]

He could have made more money selling dev kits than games.

[@zbyszkozbogdanca7309]

Powinien coś jeszcze napisać ciekawego

[@ZXSpectrum128K]

u do not start in the same place

[@Le_Petomane]

Such a shame! Why do we fuck ourselves up like this?

[@paulmorphy6187]

the guy is 51...with nice teeth he wouldn't look so bad...its just the teeth man...

[@hazchem1]

He must have made millions off of designing those games.

[@tonyali4715]

Hardly. The software companies ripped him off

[@hazchem1]

@@tonyali4715 I was being sarcastic.

[@tonyali4715]

@@hazchem1 he needs new teeth and given training to code new software, he has innate skills in him waiting to be unleashed

[@LOTPOR0402]

Computer games did not cost the same back then as they do today .The games he wrote did not sell really well outside UK, and the companies that he did work for took a lot of profit.Today's games have sponsorship to fall back on as well as a much bigger crowd to sell to

[@kaankaral]

what happened to him ? Does he have a disease ?

[@Weird.Dreams]

What happened to his teeth?

[@michaeltoner1993]

HES ENGLISH

[@Foebane72]

Poor guy, he looks like one of those benefits claimants you see on Channel 5.

[@nagualdesign]

Yeah, he's aged exactly like fine wines don't.

[@teethgrinder83]

Was/is he a heroin addict by any chance? I don't know anything about him but I loved the game-and I've known my own share of heroin addicts and....

[@Nautilus1972]

Judging by the teeth he's a meth head.

[@MGrayl-ib5fo]

You think he'd be able to afford new teeth.

[@zxspectrum16KB]

U don't start in the same place matthew

[@3dman390]

Poor guy he looks like a homeless person.

[@mavlok]

Yeah, wtf happened

[@sperrin]

He was homeless.

[@mmestari]

He wanted to live a druggie squatter life-style, that was his choice.

[@CP200S]

Could someone *please* give him a few odontological implants?

[@TomeRodrigo]

He looks a bit wasted.

[@shifty2755]

Is he an alcoholic or junky?

[@pcsocket462ecsviak7vza]

sorry Mathew but u don't start in the same place...

[@SweetBean92]

"The music was a huge part of the attraction" *horrible buzzing noises play*

[@squirrel7t7]

Sir Lancelot was well better

[@hasfidanken]

What the hell happened to him? Is he homeless?

[@prnfl]

he should have stuck with the pogues

[@philipread1005]

lol

[@beholder2012]

4:55 "...it couldn't be done on Commodore 64..." - the truth is, dear Matthew: yes, it was perfectly possible on C-64 - just YOU didn't know, how to do this. C-64 has raster-interrupts - and, besides, such kind of platformer games on C-64 are made in text mode (using modified characters as "tiles") - contrary to Spectrum, which hasn't text mode at all. So one had to struggle there with hires graphics, having no other choice.

[@lingstone-vids1923]

Chris Murray did Henry’s house at 16 years old backing 1984, an excellent game imo.

[@LOTPOR0402]

Says the troll , who was not probably even born when this guy was producing video games in his bedroom in the early 80s

[@winningjubbly9712]

This game was bloody champion, so it was. It's given me plenty of memories from my youth, like the morning I almost managed to beat the game before going to school and having a fight with Bum.mer Rob.ber to vent my frustrations. I slapped the beeyatch out of his quivering form, so I did. Themz were the days...😊

[@DarrenAudioguy]

Genius