The award-winning games designer says many of his classics became unplayable on modern machines.
Microsoft says its researchers are close to a breakthrough that could revolutionise computing.
A professor from the University of Exeter is working on computer chips that use light rather than electricity.
Photonic chips can also operate in a way that mimics the processes in the human brain, but 1,000 times faster.
Professor David Wright said the technology was similar to what was already used with fibre optics in communications.
"Moving from electronics to light has already been done ... what we're looking at is moving to using similar technology," he added.