Datasoft, Inc. (also written as DataSoft and Data Soft) was a software developer and publisher for
home computers founded in 1980 by Pat Ketchum and based out of
Chatsworth, California
Chatsworth is a suburban neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley.
The area was home to Native Americans, some of whom left caves containing rock art. Chatsworth was explored and colonized by the Spanish b ...
. Datasoft primarily published video games, including home ports of
arcade games, games based on licenses from movies and
TV shows
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed bet ...
, and original games. Like competitor
Synapse Software
Synapse Software Corporation (marketed as SynSoft in the UK) was an American video game development and publishing company founded in 1981 by Ihor Wolosenko and Ken Grant. It initially focused on the Atari 8-bit family, then later developed for th ...
, the company also published other software: development tools, word processors, and utilities. Text Wizard, written by William Robinson and published by Datasoft when he was 16, was the basis for
AtariWriter
AtariWriter is a word processor program for the Atari 8-bit family released by Atari as a 16 kB ROM cartridge in 1983. The program was fast and easy to use, while still allowing the creation of fairly complex documents. It was a huge success ...
.
[ Datasoft initially targeted the Atari 8-bit family, Apple II, and ]TRS-80 Color Computer
The RadioShack TRS-80 Color Computer, later marketed as the Tandy Color Computer and sometimes nicknamed the CoCo, is a line of home computers developed and sold by Tandy Corporation. Despite sharing a name with the earlier TRS-80, the Color Com ...
, then later the Commodore 64, IBM PC, Atari ST, and Amiga. Starting in 1983, a line of lower cost software was published under the name Gentry Software.[
Datasoft went into bankruptcy, and its name and assets were purchased by two Datasoft executives, Samuel L. Poole and Ted Hoffman. They renamed the company IntelliCreations and distributed Datasoft games until it closed.
]
Software
Games
;1982
*'' Canyon Climber''
*'' Clowns and Balloons''
*''Dung Beetles
Dung beetles are beetles that feed on feces. Some species of dung beetles can bury dung 250 times their own mass in one night.
Many dung beetles, known as ''rollers'', roll dung into round balls, which are used as a food source or breeding cha ...
''
*'' Pacific Coast Highway''
*'' Shooting Arcade''
*'' The Sands of Egypt''
;1983
*''Genesis''
*''Juno First
is an arcade video game developed by Konami and released in 1983. It was licensed to Gottlieb in the United States. ''Juno First'' combines elements of vertically scrolling shooters and fixed shooters, using a slightly tilted perspective simil ...
'', arcade port
*''Moon Shuttle'', arcade port
*''Nibbler
A nibbler, or nibblers,Jeffery Zurschmeide Automotive Welding: A Practical Guide 2009 - Page 26 "Nibblers make a ragged cut and also leave thousands of little sheetmetal nibbles all over your shop. ... Power shears are the best tool going for cut ...
'', arcade port
*'' O'Riley's Mine''
*''Pooyan
is a fixed shooter arcade game released by Konami in Japan in 1982. It was manufactured in North America by Stern Electronics. The player controls "Mama", a pig whose babies have been kidnapped by a group of wolves.
Gameplay
The player contr ...
'', arcade port
*''Zaxxon
is an isometric shooter arcade game, developed and released by Sega in 1982, in which the player pilots a ship through heavily defended space fortresses. Japanese electronics company Ikegami Tsushinki is also credited for having worked on the de ...
'', arcade port
;1984
*'' Conan''
*'' Bruce Lee''
*'' Lost Tomb'', arcade port
*'' The Dallas Quest''
*'' Mancopter''
*''Mr. Do!
is a 1982 maze game developed by Universal. It is the first arcade video game to be released as a conversion kit for other arcade machines; Taito published the conversion kit in Japan. The game was inspired by Namco's ''Dig Dug'' released earl ...
'', arcade port
*'' Pac-Man'', arcade port
*'' Pole Position'', arcade port
;1985
*'' Alternate Reality: The City''
*''The Goonies
''The Goonies'' is a 1985 American adventure comedy film co-produced and directed by Richard Donner from a screenplay by Chris Columbus, based on a story by Steven Spielberg. In the film, kids who live in the "Goon Docks" neighborhood of Astor ...
''
*''Tomahawk
A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America. It traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. In pre-colonial times the head was made of stone, bone, or antler, and Eur ...
''
*''Zorro
Zorro ( Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante w ...
''
;1986
*''Crosscheck''
*''Mercenary
A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any ...
''
*''Mind Pursuit''
;1987
*''221B Baker Street
221B Baker Street is the London address of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, created by author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the United Kingdom, postal addresses with a number followed by a letter may indicate a separate address within a ...
''
*'' Alternate Reality: The Dungeon''
*'' Bismarck''
*''Black Magic
Black magic, also known as dark magic, has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes, specifically the seven magical arts prohibited by canon law, as expounded by Johannes Hartlieb in 14 ...
''
*''Dark Lord''
*''Force 7''
*''Gunslinger''
*''Saracen''
;1988
*'' Napoleon in Russia: Borodino 1812'' (MS-DOS)
Education
*''Bishop's Square / Maxwell's Demon'' (1982)
Word processing
*Text Wizard (1981)
*Spell Wizard (1982)
*Letter Wizard (1984)
Other software
*Micro-Painter (1982)
References
External links
*
Adventureland Company Profile
Atari 8-bit family
Video game companies established in 1980
Defunct video game companies of the United States
Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles
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