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Tranz Am
''Tranz Am'' is an action video game developed and published by Ultimate Play the Game that was released for the ZX Spectrum in July 1983. The game is set in a post-apocalyptic version of the United States and centres around a racing car driver on his quest to obtain the Eight Great Cups of Ultimate, which are scattered throughout the country. The game was written by Chris Stamper and graphics were designed by Tim Stamper. ''Tranz Am'' was one of the very few Spectrum games also available in ROM format for use with the Interface 2, allowing instant loading of the game (the normal method of cassette loading could take several minutes). The game received mostly positive reviews upon release: praise was given to the game's graphics and simple controls, while criticism was directed at its confusing interface. Gameplay The game is set in a post-apocalyptic United States in the year 3472. Eight Great Cups of Ultimate are dispersed around America, and the player's mission is to obtai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tim And Chris Stamper
Brothers Tim and Chris Stamper are British entrepreneurs who founded the video game companies Ultimate Play the Game and Rare. They first worked together on arcade conversion kits, which were licensed to companies, but later became developers for the ZX Spectrum home computer in the early 1980s. Chris programmed the games, while Tim designed the graphics. They found success as Ultimate with games including ''Jetpac'' and ''Knight Lore''. After reverse engineering the Nintendo Entertainment System and deciding to shift their focus to console development, the brothers founded Rare in the mid-1980s. They became Nintendo's first major Western developer, for whom they developed licensed games and ports. Over the next two decades, Rare enjoyed a close relationship with Nintendo and developed multiple major titles for the company, including ''Donkey Kong Country'' and '' GoldenEye 007''. Microsoft acquired Rare in 2002, and the brothers left the company in 2007. After spending sever ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
1983 Video Games
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the true Internet). * January 24 – Twenty-five members of the Red Brigades are sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1978 murder of Italian politician Aldo Moro. * January 25 ** High-ranking Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie is arrested in Bolivia. ** IRAS is launched from Vandenberg AFB, to conduct the world's first all-sky infrared survey from space. February * February 2 – Giovanni Vigliotto goes on trial on charges of polygamy involving 105 women. * February 3 – Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Fraser is granted a double dissolution of both houses of parliament, for elections on March 5, 1983. As Fraser is being granted the dissolution, Bill Hayden resigns as leader of the Australian Labor Party, and in the subsequent lea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jet Pac
''Jetpac'' is a shooter video game developed and published by Ultimate Play the Game and released for the ZX Spectrum and VIC-20 in 1983 and the BBC Micro in 1984. It is the first game to be released by Ultimate Play the Game, the company which later became Rare. The game follows Jetman as he must rebuild his rocket in order to explore different planets, while simultaneously defending against hostile aliens. It was written by Ultimate co-founder Chris Stamper with graphics designed by his brother, Tim Stamper. Reviewers praised ''Jetpac''s presentation and gameplay, and it won "Game of the Year" at the Golden Joystick Awards in 1983. ''Jetpac'' has since been included in as an unlockable minigame in 1999's ''Donkey Kong 64'' and part of the 2015 compilation '' Rare Replay''. It was later included in a game compilation on the ZX Spectrum Vega. It spawned two direct sequels and a 2007 remake, ''Jetpac Refuelled'', which was released for the Xbox Live Arcade service. Gameplay Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WHSmith
WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and motorway service station shops selling books, stationery, magazines, newspapers, entertainment products and confectionery. The company was formed by Henry Walton Smith and his wife Anna in 1792 as a news vendor in London. It remained under the ownership of the Smith family for many years and saw large-scale expansion during the 1970s as the company began to diversify into other markets. Following a rejected private equity takeover in 2004, the company began to focus on its core retail business. It was responsible for the creation of the ISBN book identifier. WHSmith is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History Formation In 1792, Henry Walton Smith and his wife Anna established the business ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Your Computer (British Magazine)
''Your Computer'' was a British computer magazine published monthly from 1981 to 1988, and aimed at the burgeoning home computer market. At one stage it was, in its own words, "Britain's biggest selling home computer magazine". It offered support across a wide range of computer formats, and included news, type-in program A type-in program or type-in listing was computer source code printed in a home computer magazine or book. It was meant to be entered via the keyboard by the reader and then saved to cassette tape or floppy disk. The result was a usable game, ...s, and reviews of both software and hardware. Hardware reviews were notable for including coverage of the large number of home microcomputers released during the early 1980s. References External links ''Your Computer'' at the Internet Archive 1981 establishments in the United Kingdom 1988 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Video game magazines published ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sunshine Publications
Sunshine Publications was based in Little Newport Street, London, England. The company first dealt with book publishing. In November 1983 it entered into magazine publishing with ''Micro Adventurer,'' which lasted for 17 issues. It also published ''Popular Computing Weekly'', and later published ''Dragon User ''Dragon User'' was a British magazine for users of the Dragon 32/64 computers published from 1982 by Sunshine Publications. Production of the computers themselves had ceased by 1985 but the user community remained sufficiently active to justify t ...''. During the boom years of personal computing in the UK, it published many books aimed at the hobby end of the computing market, and also made a short-lived foray into games software publishing. References Publishing companies of the United Kingdom Defunct publishing companies Defunct companies based in London {{UK-publish-company-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Popular Computing Weekly
''Popular Computing Weekly'' was a computer magazine in the UK published from 1982 to 1990. It was sometimes referred to as ''PCW'' (although that abbreviation is more commonly associated with ''Personal Computer World'' magazine). Overview The magazine was first published on 23 April 1982. Its subject range was general, covering gaming, business, and productivity software. The founding company was Sunshine Publications based in London and the launch editor was Duncan Scot. During 1989 it incorporated '' Computer Gamesweek''. It was noteworthy for being the UK's only national weekly computer magazine of the time, and for its back page being dominated by an advertisement in the form of a comic strip, ''Piman'', by the firm Automata UK between the years 1983 and 1986. A further noteworthy feature of the early editions was the high-quality artwork on the magazine covers. These had disappeared by 1983. One other noteworthy and regular column was about adventure games, notably te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Argus Specialist Publications
Argus Press was a British publishing company. It was acquired by British Electric Traction (BET) in 1966, and became the publishing arm of that company. It was the subject of one of the most hotly contested management buyouts of the 1980s when a management team led by Kimble Earl, George Fowkes, and Scott Smith secured financing of £207m from forty national and international banks to acquire the UK and US businesses from BET. The acquisition was of particular note as the publisher Robert Maxwell was among the rival bidders, and widely considered as capable of out-witting the management team. Only an eleventh-hour intervention by Earl – exposing members of Maxwell's secret consortium as rival newspaper publishers which meant Maxwell would fall foul of the Monopolies Commission – brought success for the management team. The new company traded under the name of Team Argus. Its portfolio of businesses included the largest group of paid-for and free weekly newspapers in the UK, an e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Future Plc
Future plc is an international multimedia company established in the United Kingdom in 1985. The company has over 220 brands that span magazines, newsletters, websites, and events in fields such as video games, technology, films, music, photography, home, and knowledge. Zillah Byng-Thorne has been CEO since 2014. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History 1985–2012 The company was founded as Future Publishing in Somerton, Somerset, England, in 1985 by Chris Anderson with the sole magazine ''Amstrad Action''. An early innovation was the inclusion of free software on magazine covers; they were the first company to do so. It acquired GP Publications so establishing Future US in 1994. From 1995 to 1997, the company published ''Arcane'', a magazine which largely focused on tabletop games. Anderson sold Future to Pearson plc for £52.7m in 1994, but bought it back in 1998, with Future chief executive Greg Ingham and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Computer And Video Games
''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website was launched in 1999 and closed in February 2015. ''CVG'' was the longest-running video game media brand in the world. History ''Computer and Video Games'' was established in 1981, being the first British games magazine. Initially published monthly between November 1981 and October 2004 and solely web-based from 2004 onwards, the magazine was one of the first publications to capitalise on the growing home computing market, although it also covered arcade games. At the time of launch it was the world's first dedicated video games magazine. The first issue featured articles on ''Space Invaders'', Chess, Othello and advice on how to learn programming. The magazine had a typical ABC of 106,000. Website Launched in August 1999, CVG was o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newsfield
Newsfield Publications Ltd (also known as Newsfield) was a British magazine publisher during the 1980s and early 1990s. Newsfield Publications Ltd was founded by Roger Kean, Franco Frey and Oliver Frey in 1983. Based in Ludlow, Shropshire, Newsfield published a number of popular computer game magazines from the mid-1980s to early 1990s. This line-up was later supplemented by a number of less successful magazines covering role-playing games, film, horror and youth culture. Faced with financial difficulties, the company went bankrupt towards the end of 1991. This didn't spell the immediate end for some of their magazines though. Another magazine publisher, Europress, continued to publish Newsfield's flagship publications, Zzap!64 and Crash, for a further six months before the former was relaunched as Commodore Force and the latter sold to rival publisher EMAP and merged with Sinclair User. Thalamus Ltd, Newsfield's sister company, was set up in 1985 to publish a number of compu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
