Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 24, 2026

The 8-Bit Guy

David Murray, professionally known as The 8-Bit Guy, is an American retrocomputing enthusiast and video game developer who runs a YouTube channel under the same name.

Last revised
Jul 24, 2026
Read time
≈ 6 min
Length
1,352 w
Citations
45
Source
Wikipedia ↗
The 8-Bit Guy
Murray in 2021
Born1975 (age 50–51)
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2006–present
GenreRetrocomputing
Subscribers1.47 million
Views290 million
Last updated: May 3, 2026
Websitewww.the8bitguy.com

David Murray (born 1975),1 professionally known as The 8-Bit Guy, is an American retrocomputing enthusiast and video game developer who runs a YouTube channel under the same name.

Content and history

Murray launched his YouTube channel in 2006 under the username adric22.2 He worked on repairing and refurbishing iBook G3 and G4 laptops and later on MacBooks, buying and selling them on eBay, and later from his own website. He called himself The iBook Guy. He made videos to show how he repairs some of the equipment, but had made his living with the actual repairs, as well as resales. In 2011, he shut down his repair business.3

Murray noticed his general videos about computing were attracting more subscribers.3 In 2015, he renamed his primary channel to "The 8-Bit Guy" and focused on retrocomputing.4 He says an average episode takes about 15 hours to produce.3

Murray ran several different YouTube channels about keyboard instruments from the 1980s, coin collecting, (air) guns, and ran a comedy channel,5 although the latter three did not have as much popularity as his retrocomputing videos, so he stopped uploading videos to them.36

Murray was dissatisfied with his long-used in-home filming studio, so in 2020, he began construction on a small building in his backyard which would hold his new studio. In 2021, the new studio was finished and became Murray's primary filming location.78

On January 2, 2024, Murray announced that after two years of falling views and revenue, he would shift focus away from YouTube to the X16 project and a local arcade venue he partly owns in Bedford, Texas.910

Murray is known for the Planet XX series of games, with the original Planet X1 being developed for the VIC-20 in the late 2000s early 2010s. This was followed up with Planet X2 for the Commodore 64. Another installation was Planet X3 designed for MS-DOS.11 The most recent induction in the series was Planet X16 designed for his Commander X16 platform.12

The channel is known for its videos on restorations of old computers1314 and retrocomputer development content, and more generally on demonstrations of old technology.1516

David Murray is a co-founder of the Time Rift Arcade in Bedford, Texas.17 Murray is also passionate about electric cars, and has published videos about them on his channel.1813 Murray co-hosts the GeekBits podcast alongside his brother Mike Murray and friend Craig Bowes.19

Game releases

Murray has developed video games designed to run on old computers, including:

Murray has demonstrated the development of these games on his YouTube channel.2829
Moreover, he has developed PETDraw for various Commodore computers, a pseudo-raster drawing software using PETSCII.20

Commander X16 retrocomputer

Murray is working on the Commander X16, a new 8-bit computer inspired by the Commodore 64 and designed to be largely period-accurate to it, but made using modern off-the-shelf partsa mostly analogous to period parts but with better-assured continued availability.b31323334

Personal life

Murray lives with his wife and daughter in the Dallas–Fort Worth area in Texas.35 He has lived in his current house in Kennedale since the mid-1990s.36 Prior to their buyout, he used to work for AST Research as a tech support specialist.37 His second cousins were musicians Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul of Pantera.38

Notes

Notes

  1. except for a few new old stock chips such as the YM2151
  2. As of the 2020s, there is a lot of price gouging and counterfeiting30 in period electronic parts, hence relying on genuine period parts would impact affordability.
References

References

  1. Murray, David (July 27, 2017). Commodore Calculator Repair. Event occurs at 10:40. Retrieved November 19, 2023 – via YouTube. ...1972...three years before I was even born.
  2. "The 8-Bit Guy - YouTube". www.youtube.com.
  3. "8Bit Guy: About". The 8-bit Guy official website. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  4. Michuad, Scott (October 22, 2015). ""The 8-Bit Guy" Discusses Game Audio". PC Perspective. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  5. "Cranial Pasta Channel". YouTube.
  6. Cole, Samantha (October 1, 2020). "YouTuber Milkshake Ducked After Incorrectly Disassembling Vintage Computer". Vice. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  7. "New 8-Bit Guy Studio Construction - Part 1". YouTube.
  8. "How the Apple 1 computer works". YouTube.
  9. Changes coming for 2024, retrieved January 11, 2024
  10. "ABOUT / FAQ". Time Rift Arcade. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  11. "Planet X3 for MS-DOS computers". The 8-Bit Guy. April 23, 2019. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  12. Guy, The 8Bit (December 9, 2023). "Planet X16 Is Here! - The 8-Bit Guy". The 8-Bit Guy. Retrieved May 29, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. David Murray (February 26, 2017). "I hated Apple II back in the '80s – an interview with The 8-Bit Guy" (Interview). Interviewed by Grzegorz Ciesielski. Arytima. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  14. Grossman, David (February 24, 2017). "Watch an Old Macintosh Plus Brought Back to Life". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  15. Dormehl, Luke (January 4, 2017). "YouTuber 8-Bit Guy Shows How The NES Zapper Gun Worked". Digital Trends. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  16. Limer, Eric (November 2, 2016). "The First Real Webcam Is Laughable In Hindsight". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  17. "ABOUT / FAQ". Time Rift Arcade. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
  18. Cole, Jay (October 7, 2016). "BMW i3 REx Road Test, Charging And Fuel Tank Coding - Video Review". InsideEVs. Archived from the original on July 27, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  19. A Discussion about Piracy: GeekBits Podcast Pilot Episode 1, retrieved March 29, 2022
  20. Murray, David. "David's software". The 8 bit guy. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  21. Murray, David. "PLANET X2 FINISHED!". The 8 bit guy. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  22. "Planet X2 (Commodore 64)". Moby games. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  23. Murray, David (May 22, 2019). "PLANET X3 IS HERE! AND WITH NEW VIDEO MODES!". The 8 bit guy. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  24. "Planet X3 (DOS)". Moby games. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  25. Tarason, Dominic (June 4, 2018). "Planet X3 is a brand new CGA DOS game in development". Rock paper shotgun. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  26. https://www.the8bitguy.com/35663/planet-x16-is-here/
  27. "Attack of the PETSCII Robots". thandor.net. January 14, 2021. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  28. Griffiths, Josh (December 1, 2017). "The 8-Bit Guy Demonstrates the Process of Making a Commodore 64 Game". Cliqist. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  29. Horti, Samuel (July 9, 2018). "Meet the dev making his first DOS game -- in 2018". Gamasutra. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  30. Losey, Stephen; Gould, Joe (December 5, 2022). "Fake parts: A Pentagon supply chain problem hiding in plain sight". Defense News. Retrieved October 13, 2024.
  31. "Project Commander X16". Retro summit. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  32. Murray, David (February 19, 2019). "Building my dream computer - Part 1". YouTube. Archived from the original on October 3, 2022. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  33. Murray, David (September 12, 2019). "Building my Dream Computer - Part 2". YouTube. Archived from the original on October 3, 2022. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  34. Murray, David (October 12, 2022). "The Commander X16 has finally arrived!". YouTube. Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  35. Tom & Melody (March 7, 2021). "(S1E6) 8-Bit Computers, Mental Health" (Podcast). We Are One. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  36. Tour of Home Network 2020, retrieved November 3, 2023
  37. Murray, David (August 14, 2019). "AST Computer - Tales from Tech Support". YouTube. Event occurs at 7:05. Archived from the original on October 3, 2022.
  38. "Casio Superdrums Keyboard Review MT-500 MT-520/205". YouTube. August 1, 2016. Retrieved April 8, 2023.