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Europress was a British magazine and software publisher based in Adlington, near Macclesfield, Cheshire. Their magazine publishing business was previously known as Database Publications. The software division was renamed in 1999 to Actualize. [1]
Europress was formed by Derek Meakin in 1965. It began by publishing magazines and newspapers, then during the 1980s as an expansion of its magazine publishing business, it became involved in the rapidly growing software industry.
Under the name Database Software, they released software including the Red Arrows game for the ZX Spectrum [2] and the office suite Mini Office II, as well as games and educational software for children. [3]
During the late 1980s Europress decided to spin off its software publishing division as a separate company: Europress Software, with Christopher Payne as managing director and Diane O'Brien as Sales Director. Chris Payne came up with the name Mandarin Software as the brand for all the planned games, graphic designer Heather Sheldrick designed the logo, and Mandarin Software was launched to the press at a Chinese restaurant in London, where it showed off its first round of planned product launched. Europress Software published a high proportion of educational material, such as the Fun School series. [4]
The publishing business was purchased by IDG and became IDG Media towards the end of 1994. A reorganization of the titles promptly followed, with the Atari, Amiga and Acorn divisions each losing one or more titles along the way.
In 1999, Hasbro Interactive purchased Europress. [5] Following the closure of the deal, the studio prospered and expanded. It was able to produce titles using some of the brands owned by Hasbro, even producing two for Hasbro Germany.
Following Hasbro Interactive's purchase by the French-based Infogrames in January 2001, they gained little interest in Europress' focus on educational multimedia. On 13 July, Infogrames sold the Europress brand and titles to Trend Systems Limited, a company operated by the Meakin family, who effectively renamed Trend Systems as the new Europress Limited. [6] The Europress business that Infogrames kept was renamed as Infogrames Learning Limited after the sale of the Europress brand. [7]
After the Europress brand was returned to the Meakin family, they ran the company for a little over a year before it went into liquidation. A major factor in this was Granada TV's ignorance of their rights over Countdown. They had encouraged Europress to produce a Countdown CD-ROM, but only weeks before the launch, with large pre-orders, they discovered that they did not have the interactive rights.
In July 2002, the Europress brand was sold to Koch Media, who began licensing the brand to smaller companies wishing to create educational content. Koch than began to use the Europress brand as a publishing label for select titles.
Meakin then cofounded Meakin Enterprises with Chris Phillips. Meakin died in October 2010.[ citation needed ]
Past magazines that have since ceased publication include: Amiga Action, Amiga Computing, Computing with the Amstrad / Amstrad CPC Computing, Atari User, Atari ST User, ST Action, Mega Action, PC Today, PC Home, PC Action, Gamepro UK, Apple User, Telelink and Video Action.
When Europress bought Newsfield in 1991, Europress Impact, a satellite company of Europress, was launched. Run by ex-Newsfield directors Roger Kean, Oliver Frey and Jonathan Rignall. In 1993 the publishers name changed to Impact Magazines. Publications ceased in March 1994 as Impact entered into administration.
Key titles from Europress / Impact Magazines included:
Rick Dangerous is a platform game developed by Core Design for the Acorn Archimedes, Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS. The game was released in 1989 and published by MicroProse on the Firebird Software label in the UK, and on the MicroPlay label in America. It was also published in Spain by Erbe Software. Later, it was released with two other games, Stunt Car Racer and MicroProse Soccer, on the Commodore 64 Powerplay 64 cartridge. The game was followed by a sequel, Rick Dangerous 2, in 1990. Loosely based on the Indiana Jones film franchise, the game received mixed reviews from critics.
Thalamus Ltd was a British computer game developer that published titles for a number of 8-bit and 16-bit platforms during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Newsfield Publications Ltd was a British magazine publisher during the 1980s and early 1990s.
Zzap!64 was a computer games magazine covering games for computers manufactured by Commodore International, especially the Commodore 64 (C64). It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact.
Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior is a 1987 video game developed and published by Palace Software for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum. The game was ported to many other systems and was licensed to Epyx who published it as Death Sword in the United States.
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.
1989 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Phantasy Star II, Super Mario Land, Super Monaco GP, along with new titles such as Big Run, Bonk's Adventure, Final Fight, Golden Axe, Strider, Hard Drivin' and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The year also saw the release of the Sega Genesis and TurboGrafx-16 in North America, and the Game Boy worldwide along with Tetris and Super Mario Land.
Head Over Heels is an action-adventure game published by Ocean Software in 1987 for several home computers. It uses an isometric engine similar to the Filmation technique first developed by Ultimate Play the Game. Head Over Heels is the second isometric game by Jon Ritman and Bernie Drummond, after their earlier Batman computer game was released in 1986. The game received favourable reviews and was described by Zzap!64 as an "all time classic".
Trailblazer is a racing video game developed by Mr. Chip Software and published by Gremlin Graphics for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit computers, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 16 and Plus/4 in 1986. It was ported to the Amiga and Atari ST.
Worms is a 2D artillery tactical video game developed by Team17 and released in 1995. It is the first game in the Worms series of video games. It is a turn based game where a player controls a team of worms against other teams of worms that are controlled by a computer or human opponent. The aim is to use various weapons to kill the worms on the other teams and have the last surviving worm(s).
Hostages is a 1988 tactical shooter video game developed and published by Infogrames for the Acorn Electron, Archimedes, Atari ST, Amiga, Apple IIGS, Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, MSX, Nintendo Entertainment System, and ZX Spectrum. The game depicts a terrorist attack and hostage crisis at an embassy in Paris, with the player controlling a six-man GIGN counterterrorist team as they are deployed to defeat the terrorists and free their hostages.
Total Recall is a 1990 platform game developed and published by Ocean Software that was released for the Commodore 64, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST, and Nintendo Entertainment System. Total Recall is based on the 1990 film of the same name.
Iron Lord is an adventure video game developed by Orou Mama and Ivan Jacot for the Atari ST and published by Ubi Soft in 1989. It was ported to the Amiga, Acorn Archimedes, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, and MS-DOS.
Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax is a video game first published in 1988 for various home computers. It was released as Axe of Rage in North America. The game is the sequel to Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior, which was published in 1987. In Barbarian II, the player controls a princess or barbarian character, exploring the game world to locate and defeat an evil wizard. The game's plot is an extension of its predecessor, although the gameplay is different. While the first game offers two players the opportunity for virtual head-to-head combat, the second is a single-player beat 'em up with fewer fighting moves. It uses a flip-screen style instead of scrolling.
Fun School is a series of educational packages developed and published in the United Kingdom by Europress Software, initially as Database Educational Software. The original Fun School titles were sold mostly by mail order via off-the-page adverts in the magazines owned by Database Publications. A decision was made to create a new set of programs, call the range Fun School 2, and package them more professionally so they could be sold in computer stores around the UK. Every game comes as a set of three versions, each version set to cater for a specific age range.
Time and Magik is a trilogy of interactive fiction games by Level 9. The individual games were initially released separately in 1983-1986. In 1988 the three games were revised, expanded and re-released together as a compilation by Mandarin Software, a division of Europress Software.
Switchblade is a 1989 side-scrolling action-platform run and gun video game originally developed by Core Design and published by Gremlin Graphics in Europe for the Atari ST home computers. The first installment in the eponymous two-part series, the game is set in a dystopian future where players assume the role of Hiro from the Blade Knights as he embarks on a journey to defeat Havok, the main antagonist who broke free from his imprisonment after the sacred Fireblade was shattered into several pieces. Its gameplay consists of run and gun action mixed with platforming and exploration elements, with a main single-button configuration.
Scetlander was a software publisher which released titles for various 8- and 16-bit home computer systems in the 1980s and 1990s.
P-47: The Phantom Fighter is a 1988 horizontally scrolling shooter arcade video game originally developed by NMK and published by Jaleco. Set during World War II, players control a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft to face against the Nazis, who are occupying multiple countries around the world. Its gameplay involves destroying waves of enemies, picking up power-ups and new weapons, and destroying bosses. It ran on the Mega System 1 hardware.
Joe Blade is a video 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 ported to the Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, Atari 8-bit computers, MSX, Amiga, and Atari ST. A sequel, Joe Blade 2, was published in 1988. Another sequel, Joe Blade 3, was released in 1989.
