The current MSXdev team wants to express its heartfelt gratitude to John Hassink for his dedicated and loyal contribution to the MSXdev competition over the past 9 years. It has been an absolute honour to collaborate with this MSX legend, whose deep knowledge of MSX, its games, and the scene is truly remarkable.
Ro – The MSXdev compo is one of the longest-running retro computer competitions we know of. It began in 2003 when Jon Cortazar and Eduardo Robsy came up with the idea of an MSX1 game challenge. The rest, as they say, is history. Over the years, the competition has had various members on its organizational team, including John Hassink, who began his MSXdev journey with José Andrés in 2015. When Andrés and John, on their turn, decided to pass the organization to the MSX Resource Center in 2021, I seized the opportunity and stepped in. But only on the condition that John, who I only knew by name, would ease me into the corners of the MSXdev show. Little did we know that we would become good friends.
John was my guide during my first year at the helm, and I owe him so much for that. He knew all the ins and outs, had the connections, and was a pro in the MSXdev kitchen, helping me get up to speed while making it an enjoyable experience. John, the pragmatist, and I, the planner, complemented each other perfectly, as shown in the MSXdev21 edition—my first to organize. We had such a great time that John stuck around for another year, and then another…
During our years working on MSXdev, we shared more than just the passion for MSX. We both have a warm heart for (heavy) music, a love for food—both cooking and eating, mind you—and a great sense of humor. I’m truly glad I had the chance to get to know John and am proud to call him a friend.
After eight editions of MSXdev, John decided it was time to focus on other things and step down as MSXdev organizer.
So, here’s to you buddy – a toast on all the good dev years you gave us and a heartfelt thank you!
May you have great new MSX adventures ahead.
