Argentina's 80s Computing Scene and the Birth of Truco

This article chronicles the rise and fall of Argentina's computing industry in the 1980s and the creation of its first commercial game, Truco. Starting with the early computer project 'Clementina' led by Manuel Sadosky, Argentina's computing journey faced political turmoil and economic policy shifts. Despite a native computer, the MS101, it couldn't compete with foreign imports after import restrictions eased. The mid-80s saw a boom in home computing with the rise of clones (like ZX81 and Commodore 64 clones) and government support. However, the game market was dominated by pirated titles. Against this backdrop, Enrique and Ariel Arbiser developed Argentina's first commercial game, Truco, a computer game based on a popular Argentinian card game, which was released on TI-99/4A and DOS platforms, becoming a milestone in Argentinian gaming history.