Mirrorsoft was a British

video game publisher A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that have been developed either internally by the publisher or externally by a video game developer. They often finance the development, sometimes by paying a video game developer ( ...

founded by

Jim Mackonochie Jim Mackonochie (died 23 April 2013) was a British Royal Navy officer who became a leading figure in the development of combat flight simulation video games. He founded the game publisher Mirrorsoft in 1982. At The Fighter Collection and Eagle ...

as a division of Mirror Group Newspapers. The company was active between 1983 and 1991, and shut down completely in early 1992.

History

In the early 1980s,

worked as development manager for British communications company Mirror Group Newspapers. On a trip to the U.S., Mackonochie got a hold of a

Commodore PET The Commodore PET is a line of personal computers produced starting in 1977 by Commodore International. A single all-in-one case combines a MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor, Commodore BASIC in read-only memory, keyboard, monochrome monitor, ...

personal computer, alongside a copy of

VisiCalc VisiCalc (for "visible calculator") is the first spreadsheet computer program for personal computers, originally released for Apple II by VisiCorp on 17 October 1979. It is often considered the application that turned the microcomputer from a hob ...

, a

spreadsheet A spreadsheet is a computer application for computation, organization, analysis and storage of data in tabular form. Spreadsheets were developed as computerized analogs of paper accounting worksheets. The program operates on data entered in c ...

application for the system. This combination led him to believe that Mirror, as a communications company, should be working more closely with computer software, wherefore he approached Mirror's board of directors in 1983, suggesting that they launch a software label under Mirror Group's name, and thereby diversifying the group's non-newspaper operations, which already included Mirror Boats and Mirror Books. The division, named Mirrorsoft, was officially launched in late 1983, and Mackonochie was allowed to task several of his staff from his department at Mirror Group to aid him with establishing the division. On 12 July 1984, Mirror Group was acquired by

Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, member of parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster. Early in his life, Maxwell escaped from ...

-owned Maxwell Communications. Initially, Mirrorsoft was unaffected by the ownership change, until Mackonochie received a call from Maxwell's son,

Kevin Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant '' Kevan'' is anglicized from , a ...

, on Boxing Day 1984, in which he was told that he would be permanently moved from development manager of Mirror Group to full-time

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Mirrorsoft. On 5 November 1991, Robert Maxwell died after having previously disappeared from his yacht. Unaware of his fate, Mirrorsoft continued operations as usual, including the publishing of ''

First Samurai ''First Samurai'', alternatively titled ''The First Samurai'', is a 1991 beat 'em up platform game developed by Vivid Image and published by Image Works. ''The First Samurai'' was originally released in September 1991 for the Amiga and Atari ST, ...

'', ''

Mega-Lo-Mania ''Mega-Lo-Mania'' is a real-time strategy video game developed by Sensible Software. It was released for the Amiga in 1991 and ported to other systems. It was released as ''Tyrants: Fight Through Time'' in North America and ''Mega-Lo-Mania: Jik� ...

'' and '' Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles: The Coin-Op'' through Image Works and good projections for Christmas sales. However, subsequent to Maxwell's death, Maxwell Communications declared bankruptcy in 1992.

Arthur Andersen Arthur Andersen was an American accounting firm based in Chicago that provided auditing, tax advising, consulting and other professional services to large corporations. By 2001, it had become one of the world's largest multinational corporat ...

was appointed administrator for Maxwell's companies, including Mirrorsoft, near the end of November. With the arrival of the administrators, they took over all day-to-day operations at the company, and shut down all Mirrorsoft sales, the division's only source of revenue. Several visits from potential buyers, including

Infogrames Atari SA (formerly Infogrames Entertainment SA) is a French video game holding company headquartered in Paris. Its subsidiaries include Atari Interactive and Atari, Inc. It is the current owner of the Atari brand through Atari Interactive. ...

and MicroProse, were arranged hastily, and a management buyout was considered, but the easiest option was found to be closing the company down and selling off its assets. The majority of Mirrorsoft's staff was laid off on New Year's Eve 1991, with a remaining few being kept for further 1–2 months to help with winding down the company. Several business assets were subsequently sold to

Acclaim Entertainment Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game publisher based in Glen Cove, New York. Originally formed by Greg Fischbach, Robert Holmes and Jim Scoroposki out of an Oyster Bay storefront in 1987, the company established a worldwide ...

List of games

* ''Ashkeron!**, 1985 * ''

Boulder Dash ''Boulder Dash'' is a 2D maze-puzzle video game released in 1984 by First Star Software for Atari 8-bit computers. It was created by Canadian developers Peter Liepa and Chris Gray. The player controls Rockford, who collects treasures while e ...

'', 1985 (UK Distribution, Atari 8-Bit and Amstrad CPC versions) * ''Word Games with Mr. Men '', 1984 (Widgit Software). * ''First Steps with the Mr. Men'', 1985 * ''

Dynamite Dan ''Dynamite Dan'' is a platform game written by Rod Bowkett for the ZX Spectrum and published by Mirrorsoft in 1985. It was ported to the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and MSX. A sequel, '' Dynamite Dan 2'', was released the following year. Gamepla ...

'', 1985 * ''

Dynamite Dan II ''Dynamite Dan II: Dr Blitzen and the Islands of Arcanum'' is a platform game and the sequel to 1985's ''Dynamite Dan''. It was written for the ZX Spectrum by Rod Bowkett and published by Mirrorsoft. An Amstrad CPC port was released the same year. ...

'', 1986 * ''

Sai Combat ''Sai Combat'' is a 1986 fighting video game published by Mirrorsoft for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC. Gameplay ''Sai Combat'' is a one-on-one fighting game. The sais in the game don't refer to the stabbing weapons but rather long wooden p ...

'', 1986 * ''

Biggles James Bigglesworth, nicknamed "Biggles", is a fictional pilot and adventurer, the title character and hero of the ''Biggles'' series of adventure books, written for young readers by W. E. Johns (1893–1968). Biggles made his first appearance ...

'', 1986 * ''Spitfire '40'', 1986 * '' Bismarck'', 1987 * '' Legend of the Sword'', 1987 * ''

Pegasus Bridge Pegasus Bridge, originally called the Bénouville Bridge after the neighbouring village, is a road crossing over the Caen Canal, between Caen and Ouistreham in Normandy. The original bridge, built in 1934, is now a war memorial and is the cent ...

'', 1987 * '' Sorcerer Lord'', 1987 * ''

Tobruk Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near ...

'', 1987 * ''

Tetris ''Tetris'' (russian: link=no, Тетрис) is a puzzle video game created by Soviet software engineer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984. It has been published by several companies for multiple platforms, most prominently during a dispute over the appro ...

'', 1988 * '' Firezone'', 1988 * ''

Austerlitz Austerlitz may refer to: History * Battle of Austerlitz, an 1805 victory by the French Grand Army of Napoleon Bonaparte Places * Austerlitz, German name for Slavkov u Brna in the Czech Republic, which gave its name to the Battle of Austerlitz a ...

'', 1989 * '' CONFLICT: EUROPE'', 1989 * ''

Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

'', 1989 * '' Final Frontier'', 1989 * '' Waterloo'', 1989 * ''

Battle Master ''Battle Master'' is a 1990 fantasy action adventure game designed by Mike Simpson and Simon Jones for PSS and distributed by Mirrorsoft. The game is a fantasy adventure in which the player controls a champion who must battle evil forces to con ...

'', 1990 * '' The Final Battle'', 1990 * '' Champion of the Raj'', 1991 * '' J. R. R. Tolkien's Riders of Rohan'', 1991 * '' Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe'', 1993

References

{{Authority control Defunct companies of the United Kingdom Golden Joystick Award winners Video game companies disestablished in 1991 Video game companies established in 1983 Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom

History

List of games

See also

References