Teletext game about sinking the Belgrano

I don’t know why I just remembered this, but…

When I was a kid I recall reading that during or shortly after the Falklands war there was a “game” played on teletext where one attempted to sink the Belgrano. I remember a screenshot, which appeared to show graphics far in advance of what I had ever seen in teletext, and I wondered in the article author had become confused.

It was in a major magazine or newspaper, can’t recall which. I also seem to recall color, which would imply a magazine.

Is this ringing any bells for anyone?

My memory was that the game was available while the UK fleet was still steaming southwards, before the real life sinking of the ship. I saw it in a newspaper in Brazil and the picture was in black and white.

Someone on stackoverflow found it, the game is called “Obliterate” and ran on the Prestel service.

3 Likes

Worth a link I think to that Q&A.

I wrote a long article recounting the history of Obliterate! and another cheeky game about the Falklands War, Jeff Minter’s Bomb Buenos Aires, later reissued as City Bomber. It was my pleasure to interview Gary Zabel, one of the creators of Obliterate!, for my piece. You can read it HERE.

1 Like