Microsphere was a British software company formed in

Muswell Hill Muswell Hill is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, north London. The hill, which reaches over above sea level, is situated north of Charing Cross. Neighbouring areas include Highgate, Hampstead Garden Suburb, East F ...

, north

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in 1982 by husband and wife team David and Helen Reidy, best known for several popular computer games in the mid 1980s.

Company history

The company was formed in November 1982 as a consulting firm, before transforming into development the following year. The Reidys targeted the then recently released

ZX 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 Colou ...

, and initially attempted to write business software, producing the

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 ...

clone ''Omnicalc'', but quickly realised that the future for the machine lay with games after their first effort, a cassette containing ''Crevasse'' and ''Hotfoot'', received a good review in

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 pub ...

. After recruiting local artist and family friend Keith Warrington, they released one of their best known and critically acclaimed games, ''

Skool Daze ''Skool Daze'' is a computer game released by Microsphere (software company), Microsphere in 1984 for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 home computers. It was written by David Reidy, with graphics designed by Keith Warrington. The game was commerci ...

'' in 1984, which sold 50,000 copies and

Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch s ...

described as "excellent value, plenty to do, addictive, unusual" and followed it up with ''

Back to Skool ''Back to Skool'' is a video game, sequel to the '' Skool Daze'', created by David Reidy (whose wife Helen was a school teacher at the time) with graphics by Keith Warrington for the ZX Spectrum and released by Microsphere in 1985. The gameplay ...

'' in 1985, which drew similar praise. When interviewed, the Reidys said that they used no

compiler In computing, a compiler is a computer program that translates computer code written in one programming language (the ''source'' language) into another language (the ''target'' language). The name "compiler" is primarily used for programs that ...

s or

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, and designed everything on pencil and paper, adding the raw, hand assembled

Z80 The Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor introduced by Zilog as the startup company's first product. The Z80 was conceived by Federico Faggin in late 1974 and developed by him and his 11 employees starting in early 1975. The first working samples were ...

machine code In computer programming, machine code is any low-level programming language, consisting of machine language instructions, which are used to control a computer's central processing unit (CPU). Each instruction causes the CPU to perform a ver ...

onto the computer. Warrington tried using a computer to design his graphics, but decided he preferred traditional methods on graph paper. The company never expanded, as the founders had no motivation to do so, and as time progressed, they found it increasingly difficult to cope with the more professional marketing campaigns that started to be introduced in the maturing computer game industry. In an interview, Helen Reidy said that "It seems they're etail storesmore concerned with your advertising budget and the size of your box - it's very difficult to get a good game from a small software house into the large stores." The company's last release was the detective adventure '' Contact Sam Cruise'', which according to David Reidy wasn't commercially successful, blaming

software piracy Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, ...

for lack of sales. Uninterested in developing for the emerging 16 bit computers and consoles, he decided to change careers and became an

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the ...

Releases

* ''ZX-Sideprint'' (1983) * ''Omnicalc'' (1983) * ''Crevasse / Hotfoot'' (1983) * '' The Train Game'' (1983) * ''Evolution'' (1983) * ''Wheelie'' (1983) * ''

'' (1984) * ''Skyranger'' (1984) * ''

Back To Skool ''Back to Skool'' is a video game, sequel to the '' Skool Daze'', created by David Reidy (whose wife Helen was a school teacher at the time) with graphics by Keith Warrington for the ZX Spectrum and released by Microsphere in 1985. The gameplay ...

'' (1985) * '' Contact Sam Cruise'' (1986)

References

External links

Microsphere on World of Spectrum
{{Microsphere Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom