We review the image of Michael Robinson in his career in the video game industry. PC Fútbol will always be remembered for its eternal smile.
"I came for football and fell in love with Spain." That was always the letter of introduction of the legendary Michael Robinson, who left us on Tuesday at the age of 61 after a long fight against the disease he suffered from. The “English from Cádiz”, as Alfredo Relaño fondly reminds him, will remain forever in the memory of those who experienced Spanish football during the 90s and early 21st century.
The great evenings on Canal + and the growing popularity of televised soccer catapulted him to fame in our country. In the height of video games, Dinamic Multimedia would launch the firm sequel of the Professional Soccer Simulator. Now with a more commercial name, PC Fútbol 2.0 arrived during the 93/94 season for no less than 2,500 pesetas at the time. Kiosks in half the country received the floppy disk, the key so that the most enthusiastic could guide their soul team to victory. This was the first smile printed by Michael Robinson.
From floppy disks to CD-ROM and ending on DVD.
From that moment, he would not miss the appointment of each season. LaLiga couldn't be understood the same without your copy of PC Fútbol and Michael Robinson on the cover. The floppy disks gave way to the CD-ROM, whose first appearance occurred in version 4.0, although they would still coexist with the traditional format. It would be in 5.0 when the CD was definitively established; edition that received time later an extension "by way of expansion", which included a multitude of improvements, including an exhaustive video Reviews of Michael himself. His analyzes were habitual in successive deliveries.
His appearance spanned six seasons. Idyll that for reasons of destiny would end with the entrance of the new century. Six covers that were left for the memory. I remember that it still remains alive for Ladislao J. Moñino, one of the four people who were in charge of scoring the players in the simulator. In an interview with El País, the journalist recalls that they discovered players like Raúl thanks to his talks with him: “Raúl was in the game before moving on to Madrid's first team. Michael Robinson told us about him one day when he stopped by the office where we worked. He and also Guti or Álvaro ”, he comments.
From kiosks to the digital market.
With the bankruptcy of Dinamic Multimedia, the license would fall to Gaelco, who again borrowed Michael's services for the covers of PC Fútbol 2005, 2006 and finally 2007. The destiny was capricious. The turns that gave the license for just over a decade allowed him to star in a last cover. It would be in 2018, when PC Fútbol returned from the hand of Korner Entertainment. With a giant like Football Manager already established, the Reviews of his return was not the most hopeful. Of course, Michael's signature printed on the screen was a crush of nostalgia.
The mark it leaves, in every way, is indelible.
