DK'Tronics Ltd (stylised as dk'tronics) was a British software and hardware company active during the 1980s. It primarily made peripherals for the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as t ...

and

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sin ...

but also released

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

s for the

ZX81 The ZX81 is a home computer that was produced by Sinclair Research and manufactured in Dundee, Scotland, by Timex Corporation. It was launched in the United Kingdom in March 1981 as the successor to Sinclair's ZX80 and designed to be a low-cos ...

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 ...

VIC-20 The VIC-20 (known as the VC-20 in Germany and the VIC-1001 in Japan) is an 8-bit home computer that was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commodore's first personal computer, the PE ...

BBC Micro The British Broadcasting Corporation Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers in the 1980s for the BBC Computer Literacy Project. Designed with an emphas ...

Memotech MTX The Memotech MTX500, MTX512 and RS128 are a series of Zilog Z80A processor-based home computers released by Memotech in 1983 and 1984. Design The MTX500 had 32 KB of RAM, the MTX512 had 64KB, and the RS128 had 128KB. Although the Z80A could ...

, MSX and Amstrad platforms.

History

The company's first product was a 16Kb expansion pack for the

ZX80 The Sinclair ZX80 is a home computer launched on 29 January 1980 by Science of Cambridge Ltd. (later to be better known as Sinclair Research). It is notable for being one of the first computers available in the United Kingdom for less than a h ...

, released just prior to the launch of the

. At this time the company consisted only of David Heelas, working part-time through his interest in electronics. When the ZX81 was launched, he went full-time manufacturing, packaging and posting from his home – and by the end of 1981 he had four employees. Hardware production expanded to include new keyboards for the ZX81 and for the newly released ZX Spectrum. By 1984, DK'Tronics had around 50 personnel, with Heelas as managing director. He was also looking into the possibility of becoming a computer manufacturer, specifically with a low-cost processor for the leisure market. It was planned to have an integrated screen and music keyboard. DK'Tronics published games between 1982 and 1985, and included works from regular programmers such as

Don Priestley Don Priestley (born 1940) is a teacher and former video game programmer who wrote over 20 commercial games for the ZX81 and ZX Spectrum home computers between 1982 and 1989. Despite successful releases for DK'Tronics, such as '' 3D Tanx'' and ''Mazi ...

. David Heelas was known to be critical of the hype attempted by other software companies in the gaming press and took pride in the professional position adopted by DK'Tronics.

Games

*'' 3D Tanx'' (1982) *''

Maziacs ''Maziacs'' is an action adventure maze game published by DK'Tronics in 1983 for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and MSX. History ''Maziacs'', written by Don Priestley, was based on his earlier ZX81 game '' Mazogs''

'' (1983) *''

Zig Zag A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular. In geometry, this pattern is described as a ...

'' (1984) *'' Benny Hill's Madcap Chase'' (1985) * ''

Who Dares Wins ''Who Dares Wins'' (Latin: ''Qui audet adipiscitur''; el, Ο Τολμών Νικά, ''O tolmón niká''; french: Qui ose gagne; it, Chi osa vince; Portuguese: ''Quem ousa vence''; German: ''Wer wagt, gewinnt'') is a motto made popular in the ...

'' (1983)

References

External links

DK'Tronics Ltd
at

World of Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colour ...

Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom {{UK-videogame-company-stub