 | |
| Industry | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1981 |
| Defunct | 24 May 1993 |
| Fate | Dissolved |
| Headquarters | Great Yarmouth, England |
Key people |
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DK'Tronics Ltd (stylised as dk'tronics) was a British software and hardware company active during the 1980s. It primarily made peripherals for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC but also released video games for the ZX81, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, VIC-20, BBC Micro, Memotech MTX, MSX and Amstrad platforms. [1]
The company's first product was a 16Kb expansion pack for the ZX80, released just prior to the launch of the ZX81. At this time the company consisted only of David Heelas, working part-time through his interest in electronics. [2] When the ZX81 was launched, he went full-time manufacturing, packaging and posting from his home – and by the end of 1981 he had four employees. Hardware production expanded to include new keyboards for the ZX81 and for the newly released ZX Spectrum.
By 1984, DK'Tronics had around 50 personnel, with Heelas as managing director. He was also looking into the possibility of becoming a computer manufacturer, specifically with a low-cost processor for the leisure market. It was planned to have an integrated screen and music keyboard.
DK'Tronics published games between 1982 and 1985, and included works from programmers such as Don Priestley, who became a director of the company in 1983. [3] David Heelas was known to be critical of the hype attempted by other software companies in the gaming press and took pride in the professional position adopted by DK'Tronics. [4]
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.
The ZX81 is a home computer that was produced by Sinclair Research and manufactured in Dundee, Scotland, by Timex Corporation. It was launched in the United Kingdom in March 1981 as the successor to Sinclair's ZX80 and designed to be a low-cost introduction to home computing for the general public. It was hugely successful; more than 1.5 million units were sold. In the United States it was initially sold as the ZX-81 under licence by Timex. Timex later produced its own versions of the ZX81: the Timex Sinclair 1000 and Timex Sinclair 1500. Unauthorized ZX81 clones were produced in several countries.
Sinclair Research Ltd is a British consumer electronics company founded by Clive Sinclair in Cambridge. It was originally incorporated in 1973 as Westminster Mail Order Ltd, renamed Sinclair Instrument Ltd, then Science of Cambridge Ltd, then Sinclair Computers Ltd, and finally Sinclair Research Ltd. It remained dormant until 1976, when it was activated with the intention of continuing Sinclair's commercial work from his earlier company Sinclair Radionics, and adopted the name Sinclair Research in 1981.
Ocean Software Ltd was a British software development company that became one of the biggest European video game developers and publishers of the 1980s and 1990s.
Imagine Software was a British video games developer based in Liverpool which existed briefly in the early 1980s, initially producing software for the ZX Spectrum and VIC-20. The company rose quickly to prominence and was noted for its polished, high-budget approach to packaging and advertising, as well as its self-promotion and ambition.
CRL Group plc is a defunct British video game development and publishing company. Originally CRL stood for "Computer Rentals Limited". It was based in King's Yard, London and run by Clem Chambers.
Vortex Software was a video game developer founded by Costa Panayi and Paul Canter in the early 1980s to sell the game Cosmos which Panayi had developed for the Sinclair ZX81. They converted the game to the ZX Spectrum, but due to the low sales of the ZX81 version they licensed the game to Abbex.
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.
Bug-Byte Software Ltd. was a video game company founded in 1980 in Liverpool, initially producing software for the Acorn Atom and ZX80. Bug-Byte's first hit was Don Priestley's Mazogs which was one of the most successful titles for the ZX81. In 1983, it published Manic Miner, considered to be one of the most influential platform games of all time. The company went into liquidation in 1985 but their name and logo were purchased by Argus Press PLC for use as a budget software label.
Quicksilva was a British games software publisher active during the early 1980s.
Crystal Computing, later renamed Design Design, was a British video game developer founded in 1982 by Chris Clarke and Ian Stamp while students at the University of Manchester. Graham Stafford, Neil Mottershead, Simon Brattel and Martin Horsley, joined the company as it expanded. The company's first software release was a compilation of games for the Sinclair ZX81, though it was with the ZX Spectrum that Crystal found its greatest success. A deal with the machine's manufacturer Sinclair to distribute Crystal's Zeus Assembler gave the company sufficient funds for a major marketing campaign for their next product, Halls of the Things, an arcade adventure game that became their most successful title.
Costa Panayi is a former computer game programmer active during the 1980s. He founded Vortex Software with Paul Canter, publishing games for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC.
Maziacs is an action adventure maze game published by DK'Tronics in 1983 for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and MSX.
Don Priestley is a teacher and former video game programmer who wrote over 20 commercial games for the ZX81 and ZX Spectrum home computers between 1982 and 1989. Despite successful releases for DK'Tronics, such as 3D Tanx and Maziacs, Priestley returned to teaching in the late 1980s, claiming changes in the video game industry did not suit his style of work.
Tasword is a word processor for microcomputers developed by Tasman Software. The first version was released for the ZX81 in 1982 and spawned two major revisions in addition to several add-ons and, later, tailored versions for the +2 and +3 Spectrum models, the SAM Coupé, the MSX, the Timex Sinclair 2068 and the Amstrad CPC range.
Daley Thompson's Decathlon is an Olympic-themed sports video game developed and released by Ocean Software in 1984. It was released in the wake of Daley Thompson's popularity following his gold medals in the decathlon at the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games. The game is based on the gameplay format established by 1983 arcade game Track & Field.
Richard Shepherd Software was a British software house active between 1982 and 1985. The company was mainly known for releasing text adventure games. These were programmed by Richard Shepherd himself and Pete Cooke.
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.
Street Hawk is a video game based on the Street Hawk TV series. It was developed by Ocean Software in the 1980s for the ZX Spectrum home computer. When development on the first attempt stalled in 1985, a new version had to be quickly produced by their in-house team to fulfil orders for Kays Catalogues and never went on general release. This version is sometimes known as the "subscribers edition" as it was offered as a free gift to new subscribers to Crash magazine - the magazine eventually had to offer a choice of other Ocean games - Ping Pong, Movie, Super Bowl and Green Beret - as alternatives.
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