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Quicksilva Games
Quicksilva was a British games software publisher active during the early 1980s. Quicksilva was founded by Nick Lambert in 1980. The name Quicksilva was inspired by a particular guitar solo in a track on the album Happy Trails by Quicksilver Messenger Service. Quicksilva mainly released games for the ZX81, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum, but also did conversions and some original games for the VIC-20, Dragon 32/64, Oric-1/ Atmos, BBC Micro and Acorn Electron home computers. One of their earliest titles was ''QS Defenda'' (originally ''QS Defender''), a clone of the ''Defender'' arcade game for the ZX80 and ZX81 home computers. Greater success followed with later releases, including a ''Star Raiders''-style game entitled ''Time-Gate'' which reached the top of the ZX Spectrum charts in December 1982. Amongst the company's other successes were Jeff Minter's '' Gridrunner'' (1983), '' Bugaboo'' (1983, a.k.a. ''La Pulga'') and ''Fred'' (1983, titled " ''Roland on the Ropes'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quicksilver Software
Quicksilver Software, Inc. was an American privately-owned video game developer based in Irvine, California, United States. The company was founded on May 1, 1984 by three former Mattel Electronics programmers: Bill Fisher, Stephen Roney, and Mike Breen. The company specializes in the creation of strategy, simulation, and educational products, and on focused high-technology R&D projects. History Early in its history, Quicksilver landed a productive deal with arcade video game manufacturer Data East USA, Inc. that ultimately resulted in the creation of 28 different games for Apple II, Commodore 64, IBM PC, Mac (computer), Mac, and Atari ST home computers. These included adaptations of well-known games such as ''Karnov'' and the ''Ikari Warriors'' series. The company's work on another Data East title, '' Heavy Barrel'', earned it the attention of publisher Interplay Productions, which contracted Quicksilver to develop what would become one of Interplay's first titles as an in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oric Atmos
Oric was a brand of home computers sold in the 1980s by Tangerine Computer Systems. Tangerine was based in the United Kingdom and sold their computers primarily in Europe. All computers in the Oric line were based on the MOS Technology 6502A microprocessor. With the success of the ZX Spectrum from Sinclair Research, Tangerine's backers suggested a home computer and Tangerine formed Oric Products International Ltd to develop the Oric-1. The computer was introduced in 1982. During 1983, approximately 160,000 Oric-1 computers were sold in the UK, plus another 50,000 in France (where it was the year's top-selling machine). This resulted in Oric being acquired and given funding for a successor model, the 1984 Oric Atmos. Oric was bought by Eureka, which produced the less successful Oric Telestrat (1986). Oric was dissolved the year the Telestrat was released. Eastern European legal clones of Oric machines were produced into the 1990s. Models Oric-1 Based on a 1 MHz MO ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raymond Briggs
Raymond Redvers Briggs (18 January 1934 – 9 August 2022) was an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist and author. Achieving critical and popular success among adults and children, he is best known in Britain for his 1978 story '' The Snowman'', a book without words whose cartoon adaptation is televised and whose musical adaptation is staged every Christmas. Briggs won the 1966 and 1973 Kate Greenaway Medals from the British Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book illustration by a British subject. For the 50th anniversary of the Medal (1955–2005), a panel named '' Father Christmas'' (1973) one of the top-ten winning works, which composed the ballot for a public election of the nation's favourite. For his contribution as a children's illustrator, Briggs was a runner-up for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1984. He was a patron of the Association of Illustrators. Early life Raymond Redvers Briggs was born on 18 January 1934 in Wim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Snowman
''The Snowman'' is a 1982 British animated television film and symphonic poem based on Raymond Briggs's 1978 picture book '' The Snowman.'' It was directed by Dianne Jackson for Channel 4. It was first shown on 26 December 1982, and was an immediate success. It was nominated for Best Animated Short Film at the 55th Academy Awards and won a BAFTA TV Award. The story is told through pictures, action and music, scored by Howard Blake. It has no dialogue, with the exception of the central song, " Walking in the Air". The orchestral score was performed by the Sinfonia of London and the song was performed by Peter Auty, a St Paul's Cathedral choirboy. The film ranked at number 71 on the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes, a list drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, based on a vote by industry professionals. It was voted number 4 in UKTV Gold's ''Greatest TV Christmas Moments''. It came third in Channel 4's poll of ''100 Greatest Christmas Moments'' in 20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ZX Spectrum; it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and the German-speaking parts of Europe, and also Canada. The series spawned a total of six distinct models: The ''Amstrad CPC 464, CPC 464'', ''CPC 664'', and ''CPC 6128'' were highly successful competitors in the European home computer market. The later ''464 plus'' and ''6128 plus'', intended to prolong the system's lifecycle with hardware updates, were considerably less successful, as was the attempt to repackage the ''plus'' hardware into a game console as the ''GX4000''. The CPC models' hardware is based on the Zilog Z80A CPU, complemented with either 64 or 128 KB of Random-access memory, RAM. Their computer-in-a-keyboard design prominently ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roland (game Character)
''Roland'' is a video game franchise developed in 1984 by Alan Sugar, CEO of Amstrad, and Jose Luis Dominguez, a Spanish game designer. Named for Roland Perry, a computer engineer who worked for Amstrad, the idea was to have one recognizable character in a number of different computer games in a bid to have the Amstrad CPC compete with the ZX Spectrum and the Commodore 64. Games in the ''Roland''-series * 1984: ''Roland Ahoy!'' (by Computersmith) * 1984: ''Roland on the Ropes'' (by Indescomp) - a copy of the Spanish game ''Fred''. Roland had to collect bullets, treasures and maps while climbing ropes to get out of a tomb/pyramid. Some villains can be destroyed (skeletons, bats, mummies) while some can only be forced to change direction (ghosts) and some have to be jumped over (dripping poison, rats, scorpions). When the game ends, the end music is the Funeral March. The game was released for the Spectrum and the Commodore as well, and was later remade for the PC. * 1984: ''Roland ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bugaboo (The Flea)
''Bugaboo (The Flea)'', later published in Spain as ''La Pulga'', is a video game written by the Spanish programming duo Paco Portalo and Paco Suarez for the ZX Spectrum and published by Quicksilva in 1983. It was later released for the Commodore 64, MSX and Amstrad CPC. The Amstrad CPC port was published under the name ''Roland in the Caves'' using the Roland character. ''Bugaboo'', besides being one of the earliest video games made in Spain, is one of the first computer games to include cutscenes. Its publication marked the beginning of the Golden Era of Spanish Software. A sequel was released in Spain by Opera Soft under the title ''Poogaboo'', made by Paco Suarez. Paco Portalo, the other member of Paco & Paco, left the project after the publication of the original game for the ZX Spectrum. The player takes control of a flea who has fallen into a cavern and must escape. Gameplay The game begins with an animation depicting Bugaboo, a small, yellow creature with two ext ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurogamer
''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network. In 2008, it started in the formerly eponymous trade fair EGX (Eurogamer Expo until 2013) organised by its parent company. From 2013 to 2020, sister site ''USGamer'' ran independently under its parent company. History ''Eurogamer'' (initially stylised as ''EuroGamer'' was launched on 4 September 1999 under company Eurogamer Network. The founding team included John Bye, the webmaster for the PlanetQuake website and a writer for British magazine '' PC Gaming World''; Patrick Stokes, a contributor for the website Warzone; and Rupert Loman, who had organised the EuroQuake esports event for the game '' Quake''. It became the official online media partner of the 2002 European Computer Trade Show. ''Eurogamer'' hosts content from media outlet ''Digital Foundry'' since 2007, which was founded in 2004. By the end of 2012, visits to the ''Eurogamer'' website and its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gridrunner
''Gridrunner'' is a fixed shooter video game written by Jeff Minter and published by Llamasoft for the VIC-20 in 1982. It was ported to the Atari 8-bit computers, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Commodore PET and Dragon 32. Many remakes and sequels have followed, including versions for the Atari ST, Amiga, Pocket PC, Microsoft Windows, and iOS. Gameplay The game is similar to the Atari, Inc. arcade game ''Centipede (video game), Centipede'', with long, segmented enemies that progress in a zig-zag fashion and can be broken apart. Players control a small ship that can fire upwards and move freely around the screen. The player must also avoid pulses emitted by the X-Y zappers which patrol the edges of the grid. The game has twenty waves of enemies to complete. Development Llamasoft released ''Gridrunner'' in 1982 for the unexpanded VIC-20. The game was written over the course of a single week. Although it draws its inspiration from the arcade game ''Centipede (video game), Centipede'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeff Minter
Jeff Minter (born 22 April 1962) is an English video game designer and programmer who often goes by the name Yak. He is the founder of software house Llamasoft and has created dozens of games during his career, which began in 1981 with games for the ZX80. Minter's games are shoot 'em ups which contain titular or in-game references demonstrating his fondness of ruminants (llamas, sheep, camels, etc.). Many of his programs also feature something of a psychedelic element, as in some of the earliest "light synthesizer" programs including '' Trip-a-Tron''. Minter's works include the music visualisation program ''Neon'' (2004) which is built into the Xbox 360 console, and the video games ''Gridrunner'', ''Attack of the Mutant Camels'', ''Tempest 2000'', and ''Polybius''. Game development career Pre-commercial career (early years) Minter began programming computers at a young age. He wrote the game ''Deflex'' for the Commodore PET in 1979. However it would not be until a long il ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Star Raiders
''Star Raiders'' is a space combat simulator video game created by Doug Neubauer and published in 1980 by Atari, Inc. Originally released for the Atari 8-bit computers, Atari 400/800 computers, ''Star Raiders'' was later ported to the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, and Atari ST. The player assumes the role of a starship fighter pilot, who must protect starbases from invading forces called Zylons. Piloting and combat are shown in the 3D cockpit view, while a 2D galactic map shows the state of the Zylon invasion. Neubauer made the game in his spare time at Atari, inspired by contemporary media such as ''Battlestar_Galactica_(1978_TV_series), Battlestar Galactica'' and ''Star Wars (film), Star Wars'', as well as the 1971 mainframe game ''Star Trek (1971 video game), Star Trek''. ''Star Raiders'' became one of the most successful games on Atari's 400 and 800 computers, and their first killer app. It influenced space combat games such as ''Elite (video game), Elite'' (1984) and ''Wing Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 hundred pounds. It was available in kit form for £79.95, where purchasers had to assemble and solder it together, and as a ready-built version at £99.95. The ZX80 was advertised as the first personal computer for under £100 and received praise for its value and documentation. However, it faced criticism for screen blanking during program execution, small RAM size, and the keyboard design. It was very popular straight away, and for some time there was a waiting list of several months for either version of the machine. Name The ZX80 was named after the Z80 processor with the 'X' meaning "the mystery ingredient". Hardware Internally, the machine was designed by Jim Westwood around a Z80 central processing unit with a clock speed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
