 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(February 2018) |
| Founded | Milton Keynes, England, 1982 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Kevin Toms |
| Fate | Sold to Prism Leisure Corporation |
| Headquarters | , England |
Addictive Games was a UK video game publisher in the 1980s and early 1990s. It is best known for the Football Manager series of games created by company founder Kevin Toms. The company was originally based in Milton Keynes, England, and later relocated to Bournemouth, in southern England.
The company was set up by Kevin Toms in 1982 in order to launch the Football Manager game he had written for the TRS-80 and ZX81 computers. Initially, this was just by mail order from advertisements placed in computer magazines. In September 1982, Addictive Games launched the ZX Spectrum version of Football Manager, with added match action graphics. [1] The addition of the graphics actions was very popular, and the game went on to be a number one best seller, with the games being stocked in major retailers. The success of Football Manager allowed Toms to move the company to commercial premises in Richmond Hill in the centre of Bournemouth. In 1984 the game was ported to the BBC Micro and Commodore 64. By 1987, Football Manager had been ported to 16 different platforms.
In 1984, Addictive used the short-lived Silicon Joy label for games by other authors, 'specially selected' by Kevin Toms, but in 1985, after Toms launched his next game Software Star , Addictive also began publishing games by other authors including Boffin by Paul Julian O'Malley and Kirel by Siegfried Kurtz. Headcoach , an American football sports strategy game written by Simon Davies was released in the summer of 1986 and reached No. 3 in the W H Smith UK sales charts. [2] Toms went on to write the political strategy game President released in 1987.
The company was bought by Prism Leisure Corporation in 1987. Prism used the Addictive name for full price game releases (including HotShot in 1988, The Kristal in 1989 and the later Football Manager games), as well as selling older Addictive games (particularly Football Manager) in their budget ranges and in compilations.
Andrew Nicholas Oliver and Philip Edward Oliver, together known as the Oliver Twins, are British twin brothers and video game designers.
Cinemaware was a video game developer and publisher. It had released several titles in the 1980s based on various film themes. The company was resurrected in 2000, before being acquired by eGames in 2005.
Tynesoft Computer Software was a software developer and publisher in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Artic Computing was a software development company based in Brandesburton, England from 1980 to 1986. The company's first games were for the Sinclair ZX81 home computer, but they expanded and were also responsible for various ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, BBC Micro, Acorn Electron and Amstrad CPC computer games. The company was set up by Richard Turner and Chris Thornton. Charles Cecil, who later founded Revolution Software, joined the company shortly after it was founded, writing Adventures B through D. Developer Jon Ritman produced a number of ZX81 and Spectrum games for Artic before moving to Ocean Software.
MicroIllusions, based in Granada Hills, California was a computer game developer and publisher of the home computer era. MicroIllusions, as a company, was a strong supporter of the Amiga and typically released titles on that platform before porting it to others. Activision cancelled them as an affiliated publisher after a year of signing them up. The company went out of business in or about 1990.
Eutechnyx Limited is a British video game developer based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Since 1997, the company has focused on racing games. They are known for their largely panned video game Ride to Hell: Retribution, work with the NASCAR The Game franchise, and as a developer on various other racing titles and games.
Barry Leitch is a Scottish video game music composer, responsible for the music in many games spanning multiple consoles and personal computers. Most notable is his work from the Lotus Turbo Challenge, TFX, Gauntlet Legends, Gauntlet Dark Legacy, Top Gear, and Rush video game series.
David Lowe also known as "Uncle Art" is a British composer known for his work on computer games from 1985 to 1998.
Alligata Software Ltd. was a computer games developer and publisher based in Sheffield in the UK in the 1980s.
Football Manager is a video game series published and developed by Addictive Games, the label set up by the game's creator Kevin Toms. The first game was released in 1982. It was then ported to most home computers during the 1980s and spawned several sequels: Football Manager 2 (1988) and Football Manager World Cup Edition (1990), both designed by Kevin Toms, and finally Football Manager 3 (1992), without Toms' involvement. Football Manager 3 sold poorly, and as a result the series came to an end. The series was claimed to have sold over a million copies by 1992 and close to two million copies overall. The game was to start a whole new genre of computer game, the football management simulation.
Atlantis Software was a London-based UK computer games publisher that released a number of games during the 1980s and early 1990s.
Football Manager is the first game in the Football Manager series.
Brian Clough's Football Fortunes is a video game featuring Brian Clough, released in 1987 for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, BBC Micro, Commodore 16, Commodore Plus/4, Commodore 64, DOS, Acorn Electron, MSX and ZX Spectrum.
Tiertex Design Studios Limited was a British software development company and former video game developer based in Macclesfield, England; it was founded in 1986, focusing on porting games to home computers and handheld platforms.
Bubble Bus Software was a publisher of video game software for home computers in the mid-1980s, founded by Mark Meakins and based in Tonbridge, Kent. Their releases targeted popular home computers of the time, such as the Commodore 64, VIC-20 and ZX Spectrum. Their most notable releases were Starquake and Wizard's Lair, both written by Stephen Crow. Wizard's Lair was notable for its similarity to both Atic Atac and Sabre Wulf.
Ghostbusters II is a 1989 action game based on the film of the same name. It was published by Activision for various computer platforms. British studio Foursfield developed a version for Commodore 64, Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum, which also got ported to the MSX by New Frontier. It features three levels based on scenes from the film. Dynamix developed a separate version for the DOS, also based on the film. The non-DOS versions were praised for the graphics and audio, but criticized for long loading times, disk swapping, and the final level. The DOS, Commodore 64 and Amiga versions were the only versions released in North America.
Joe Blade is a game published by Interceptor Micros on their Players budget label for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC in 1987. It reached the top of the UK game charts, replacing Renegade. In Germany, the game peaked at number 7. It was later ported to the Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, Atari 8-bit, MSX, Amiga and ST and a sequel, Joe Blade 2, was published in 1988. Another sequel, Joe Blade 3, was released in 1989.
Sito Pons 500cc Grand Prix is a 1990 racing video game developed and published by the Spanish company Zigurat Software for Amstrad CPC, MS-DOS, MSX and ZX Spectrum. Featuring former Spanish racer Sito Pons and themed around motorcycle racing, the game pit players driving the Honda NSR500 with races against AI-controlled opponents across various countries to qualify in the 500cc class of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing.