Cosmi Corporation (COSMI) was an American computer software company based in Carson, California. It sold low-cost software directly to consumers in large retail outlets, computer stores, and drug, hardware, and grocery stores. It had two major imprints: Celery Software, and Swift Software/Swift Jewel. [1]
Platforms it has published for include: Atari 8-bit computers, [2] Atari 16-bit computers, the VIC-20, Commodore 64, [3] Commodore 128, and Amiga, Apple II computers, IBM [3] and Tandy compatibles, Windows, Palm OS, and PocketPC.
Cosmi Corporation was founded in 1982 by George Johnson. Its business model was of vertical integration, rapidly pivoting into trendy or popular product niches, and maintaining low prices. [4] It published and distributed software for personal computer systems.
Cosmi products included games, such as Forbidden Forest , The President Is Missing, and Aztec Challenge . It also published utility software including a database, word processor, spreadsheet, street maps, vacation planners, and a 3D World Atlas. [5] [6] [3]
Further examples include: [3]
In 2001, Cosmi began publishing shovelware, which was sold at Best Buy and Office Depot. [9] [10]
Examples from this era include:
All of which were published on the same disk. The installer would ask which one was being installed and then ask for a specific word on a specific page of the manual of the selected product, as a form of rudimentary DRM.
In 2012, Cosmi acquired ValuSoft from the now-defunct video game publisher THQ for an undisclosed sum. [11] The company was renamed to ValuSoft Cosmi.
In 2018, ValuSoft Cosmi was renamed Play Hard Games. [12]
In 2020, Play Hard Games was acquired, and then dissolved, by Ziggurat Interactive. As of 2024, some of its games are still sold under the ValuSoft Cosmi brand. [13]
Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 16/32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphics and audio compared to previous 8-bit systems. These systems include the Atari ST—released earlier the same year—as well as the Macintosh and Acorn Archimedes. Based on the Motorola 68000 microprocessor, the Amiga differs from its contemporaries through the inclusion of custom hardware to accelerate graphics and sound, including sprites and a blitter, and a pre-emptive multitasking operating system called AmigaOS.
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Commodore International Corporation was a home computer and electronics manufacturer incorporated in The Bahamas with executive offices in the United States founded in 1976 by Jack Tramiel and Irving Gould. Commodore International (CI), along with its subsidiary Commodore Business Machines (CBM), was a significant participant in the development of the home computer industry, and at one point in the 1980s was the world's largest in the industry.
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Amiga software is computer software engineered to run on the Amiga personal computer. Amiga software covers many applications, including productivity, digital art, games, commercial, freeware and hobbyist products. The market was active in the late 1980s and early 1990s but then dwindled. Most Amiga products were originally created directly for the Amiga computer, and were not ported from other platforms.
The Last Ninja is an action-adventure game developed and published by System 3 in 1987 for the Commodore 64. It was converted to the Apple IIGS, MS-DOS, BBC Micro and Acorn Electron in 1988, the Apple II in 1989, the Amiga and Atari ST in 1990, and the Acorn Archimedes in 1991.
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Forbidden Forest is a game designed by Paul Norman, published by Cosmi Corporation in 1983 for the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit computers.
Aztec Challenge refers to either of two early action video games published by Cosmi, as well as two subsequent remakes. In all game versions the player takes control of a running Aztec warrior. The first was a side-scrolling platform-jumping game created by Robert Tegel Bonifacio and released in 1982 for Atari 8-bit computers. Subsequently, a different game with the same title and overall theme was created by Paul Norman and released for the Commodore 64. It includes a level in a modified-first-person 3D-style.
Impulse was a digital distribution and multiplayer platform. Originally developed by Stardock to succeed Stardock Central, it was purchased by GameStop in March 2011, and was subsequently rebranded as GameStop PC Downloads, with the client being renamed GameStop App. The client was discontinued in April 2014.
Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single, non-technical user. These computers were a distinct market segment that typically cost much less than business, scientific, or engineering-oriented computers of the time, such as those running CP/M or the IBM PC, and were generally less powerful in terms of memory and expandability. However, a home computer often had better graphics and sound than contemporary business computers. Their most common uses were word processing, playing video games, and programming.
Donald's Alphabet Chase is an educational video game developed by Westwood Associates and published in 1988 by Walt Disney Computer Software. It was released on various home computers including the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Commodore 64, MS-DOS and ZX Spectrum. An Atari ST version was planned by Nathan Software but got no release. The game was released in five different languages including English, Spanish, French, Italian and German.
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