Critical Mass (1985 Video Game)
''Critical Mass'' (known as ''Power!'' in North America) is a video game developed by Simon Francis and published in 1985 by Durell Software for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum. Plot An anti-matter power station on an orbiting asteroid is used by the local star system for energy. The station has been taken over by hostile aliens who are threatening to overload the power system which will turn the reactor into a massive black hole and destroy not only the planetary system, but several nearby stars as well. The object of the game is to make it to the heavily defended power station and disable it before the reactor reaches critical mass and implodes. ''Critical Mass'' cassette inlay instructions Gameplay The player may control the hovercraft in either a normal joystick operational mode or with vec ...[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Durell Software
Durell Software is a software developer based in Taunton, Somerset in the United Kingdom. The company is a provider of back office administration and accounting software to independent financial advisers, mortgage brokers, and general insurance brokers. Durell was formerly a successful video games developer. History Pre-1987 Durell was founded in 1983 by Robert White. Up to 1987, Durell developed 19 games for various 8-bit computers such as Oric-1, ZX Spectrum, C64, BBC Micro, Acorn Electron and Amstrad CPC. Their biggest hit was ''Harrier Attack'' that sold over 250,000 copies. Post-1987 Toward the end of 1987 Durell Software sold the rights to publish most of their existing games to Elite Systems and changed focus to developing financial services software for the IFA, insurance and mortgage broking industries. Currently over 1,000 advisers and brokers use Durell's software. In 2005 Mike Richardson, author of Durell's best selling titles for the ZX Spectrum, founded Durell Gam ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Your Spectrum
''Your Sinclair'', or ''YS'' as it was commonly abbreviated, was a commercially published and printed British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum. It was in circulation between 1984 and 1993. History The magazine was launched in January 1984 as ''Your Spectrum'' by Sportscene Specialist Press. (Sportscene would later be renamed to Dennis Publishing in April 1987.) Initially, it was published bimonthly, changing to monthly in June 1984. With the January 1986 issue, the title was relaunched as ''Your Sinclair'', with the intention of expanding coverage of the QL into the main magazine (previously, ''QL User'' had been a pull-out section within the magazine), and any future computers produced by Sinclair. However, the magazine remained focused almost entirely on the ZX Spectrum games scene. In 1990, the magazine was sold to Bath-based Future plc, and the April 1990 issue was the first to be published by the new company. That issue's news ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Durell Software Games
{{disambig, surname ...
Durell may refer to: Persons * Birgitta Durell (1619–1683), Swedish industrialist * C. V. Durell (1882–1968), schoolmaster who wrote mathematical textbooks. * Daniel Meserve Durell (1769–1841), U.S. Representative from New Hampshire * Durell Peaden, a Republican member of the Florida Senate, representing the 2nd District since 2001. * Durell Taylor, American football player * Edward Durell Stone (1902–1978), American modernist twentieth century architect. * Edward Henry Durell, the 25th mayor of New Orleans (1863). Other * Durell Software UK producer of Accounting software, previously well known for ZX Spectrum games. See also * Yvon Durelle * Durrell Durrell is a surname, and may refer to Members of the Durrell family * Gerald Durrell * Jacquie Durrell * Lawrence Durrell * Lawrence Samuel Durrell * Lee McGeorge Durrell * Louisa Dixie Durrell * Margaret Durrell * Leslie Durrell * Shame D ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Commodore 64 Games ...
{{short description, None This is a list of games for the Commodore 64 personal computer system, sorted alphabetically. See Lists of video games for other platforms. Because of the length of the list, it has been broken down to two parts: *List of Commodore 64 games (A–M) *List of Commodore 64 games (N–Z) See also * Commodore 64 Games System * Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Amstrad CPC Games
Amstrad was a British electronics company, founded in 1968 by Alan Sugar at the age of 21. The name is a contraction of Alan Michael Sugar Trading. It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in April 1980. During the late 1980s, Amstrad had a substantial share of the PC market in the UK. Amstrad was once a FTSE 100 Index constituent, but since 2007 has been wholly owned by Sky UK. , Amstrad's main business was manufacturing Sky UK interactive boxes. In 2010, Sky integrated Amstrad's satellite division as part of Sky so they could make their own set-top boxes in-house. The company had offices in Kings Road, Brentwood, Essex. History 1960s and 1970s Amstrad (also known as AMSTrad) was founded in 1968 by Alan Sugar at the age of 21, the name of the original company being AMS Trading (Amstrad) Limited, derived from its founder's initials (Alan Michael Sugar). Amstrad entered the market in the field of consumer electronics. During the 1970s they were at the forefron ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1985 Video Games
1985 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as ''Super Mario Bros.'' and ''Kung Fu'', along with new titles such as ''Commando'', ''Duck Hunt'', '' Gauntlet'', ''Ghosts 'n Goblins'', ''Gradius'', ''Hang-On'', ''Space Harrier'' and ''The Way of the Exploding Fist''. The year's highest-grossing arcade video games were ''Hang-On'' and ''Karate Champ'' in the United States, and ''Commando'' in the United Kingdom. The year's bestselling home system was the Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom) for the second year in a row, while the year's bestselling home video game was ''Super Mario Bros.'' Financial performance In the United States, annual home video game sales fell to ( adjusted for inflation) in 1985. Meanwhile, the arcade game industry began recovering in 1985. Highest-grossing arcade games Japan In Japan, the following titles were the top-grossing arcade video games on the bi-weekly '' Game Machine'' charts in 1985. United Kingdom and United States In the Un ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Zzap!
''Zzap!64'' was a computer games magazine covering games on the Commodore International series of computers, especially the Commodore 64 (C64). It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact. The magazine launched in April, with the cover date May 1985, as the sister magazine to ''CRASH''. It focused on the C64 for much of its shelf life, but later incorporated Amiga game news and reviews. Like ''CRASH'' for the ZX Spectrum, it had a dedicated cult following amongst C64 owners and was well known for its irreverent sense of humour as well as its extensive, detailed coverage of the C64 scene. The magazine adopted an innovative review system that involved the use of the reviewers' faces, artistically rendered by in-house artists Oli Frey and Mark Kendrick, to express their reaction to the games. These eventually evolved into static cartoons as the magazine began catering for a younger market. By 1992, the magazine had changed so dramatically i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sinclair User
''Sinclair User'' was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of home computers, most specifically the ZX Spectrum (while also occasionally covering arcade games). Initially published by ECC Publications, and later EMAP, it was published in the UK between 1982 and 1993, and was the longest running Sinclair-based magazine. The magazine contained news, game reviews, previews, tips, help guides, columns, readers' letters, and cover-mounted game demos. History In earlier years, the magazine built up personality cults around some of its "hilariously" monikered staff, including Bill "Incorruptible" Scolding, John "Disgusting" Gilbert, Chris "Lunchbreaks" Bourne, Claire "Ligger" Edgely, Richard Price (writer of the "Gordo Greatbelly" adventure tips section), and columnist Andrew Hewson (founder of Hewson Consultants software). Under David Kelly's editorial tenure, the magazine began to focus more on the gaming scene, and featured more colour graphics under designer Garet ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Action Video Game
An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, and platform games. Multiplayer online battle arena and some real-time strategy games are also considered action games. In an action game, the player typically controls a character often in the form of a protagonist or avatar. This player character must navigate a level, collecting objects, avoiding obstacles, and battling enemies with their natural skills as well as weapons and other tools at their disposal. At the end of a level or group of levels, the player must often defeat a boss enemy that is more challenging and often a major antagonist in the game's story. Enemy attacks and obstacles deplete the player character's health and lives, and the player receives a game over when they run out of lives. Alternatively, the player gets to the end of the g ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dragon (magazine)
''Dragon'' is one of the two official magazines for source material for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game and associated products, along with ''Dungeon (magazine), Dungeon''. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, ''The Strategic Review''. The final printed issue was #359 in September 2007. Shortly after the last print issue shipped in mid-August 2007, Wizards of the Coast (part of Hasbro, Inc.), the publication's current copyright holder, relaunched ''Dragon'' as an online magazine, continuing on the numbering of the print edition. The last published issue was No. 430 in December 2013. A digital publication called ''Dragon+'', which replaces the ''Dragon'' magazine, launched in 2015. It is created by Dialect in collaboration with Wizards of the Coast, and its numbering system for issues started at No. 1. History TSR In 1975, TSR, Inc. began publishing ''The Strategic Review''. At the time ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Black Hole
A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravitation, gravity is so strong that nothing, including light or other Electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic waves, has enough energy to escape it. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass can deform spacetime to form a black hole. The boundary (topology), boundary of no escape is called the event horizon. Although it has a great effect on the fate and circumstances of an object crossing it, it has no locally detectable features according to general relativity. In many ways, a black hole acts like an ideal black body, as it reflects no light. Moreover, quantum field theory in curved spacetime predicts that event horizons emit Hawking radiation, with thermal radiation, the same spectrum as a black body of a temperature inversely proportional to its mass. This temperature is of the order of billionths of a kelvin for stellar black holes, making it essentially impossible to observe directly. Obje ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |