Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Video games |
Founded | 1989 |
Founder | Tomasz Pazdan Janusz Pelc |
Headquarters | , |
Key people | Mirosław Liminowicz (CEO) |
Products | Robbo A.D. 2044 Schizm: Mysterious Journey |
Website | Official website |
Laboratorium Komputerowe Avalon (lit. "Computer Laboratory Avalon"), abbreviated LK Avalon, was a Polish software developer and distributor, with product range encompassing video games, educational software and other applications.
The company was founded in mid-1989 by 19 years old schoolmates Tomasz Pazdan and Janusz Pelc, fresh after passing their matura exams, in order to publish Pelc's Atari 8-bit computer game Robbo. [1] [2] In 1990 Mirosław Liminowicz joined the company, and replaced Pelc as partner in the company when the latter left Avalon the same year. [2]
LK Avalon followed the success of Robbo with other games and applications for the Atari XL/XE. Initially publishing software developed in-house, such as Pelc's Misja and Liminowicz's Fred and Lasermania, later the company also published games created by other developers.
In late 1991, Avalon made a deal with Zeppelin Games, who would license the company's games Misja and Fred for release in Western Europe. [3] In exchange, Avalon licensed several Atari 8-bit games by Zeppelin for publication in Poland, starting around October 1992. [4] Avalon's software was also distributed in Germany by KE-Soft [3] and in the Netherlands by ANG Software.[ citation needed ]
Besides software, Avalon was also responsible for publishing Tajemnice Atari , a magazine for Atari computer enthusiasts. It contained type-in listings of Atari programs, solutions and maps for Polish video games, and promotion of software published by LK Avalon. Launched in May 1991, Tajemnice Atari lasted until October 1993.
In the mid-1990s LK Avalon branched out to other computer platforms, publishing games first for the Commodore 64, then the Amiga and PC, with the Microsoft Windows market being the company's focus since the 2000s.
Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the company's 8-bit home computers. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985, and it was widely available in July. The ST was the first personal computer with a bitmapped color graphical user interface, using a version of Digital Research's GEM interface / operating system, from February 1985.
The Konix Multisystem was a cancelled video game system under development by Konix, a British manufacturer of computer peripherals.
The Atari XE Video Game System is an industrial redesign of the Atari 65XE home computer and the final model in the Atari 8-bit computer series. It was released by Atari Corporation in 1987 and marketed as a home video game console alongside the Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega's Master System, and Atari's own Atari 7800. The XEGS is compatible with existing Atari 8-bit computer hardware and software. Without keyboard, the system operates as a stand-alone game console. With the keyboard, it boots identically to the Atari XE computers. Atari packaged the XEGS as a basic set consisting of only the console and joystick, and as a deluxe set consisting of the console, keyboard, CX40 joystick, and XG-1 light gun.
1983 has seen many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Mario Bros. and Pole Position II, along with new titles such as Astron Belt, Champion Baseball, Dragon's Lair, Elevator Action, Spy Hunter and Track & Field. Major events include the video game crash of 1983 in North America, and the third generation of video game consoles beginning with the launch of Nintendo's Family Computer (Famicom) and Sega's SG-1000 in Japan. The year's highest-grossing video game was Namco's arcade game Pole Position, while the year's best-selling home system was Nintendo's Game & Watch for the third time since 1980.
Klax is a puzzle video game released in arcades in 1990 by Atari Games while Namco distributed the game in Japanese markets. It was designed and animated by Mark Stephen Pierce with the software engineering done by Dave Akers. The object is to catch colored blocks tumbling down a machine and arrange them in colored rows and patterns to make them disappear. Klax was originally published as a coin-op follow-up to Tetris, about which Atari Games was in a legal dispute at the time.
Krome Studios Melbourne, originally Beam Software, was an Australian video game development studio founded in 1980 by Alfred Milgrom and Naomi Besen and based in Melbourne, Australia. Initially formed to produce books and software to be published by Melbourne House, a company they had established in London in 1977, the studio operated independently from 1987 until 1999, when it was acquired by Infogrames, who changed the name to Infogrames Melbourne House Pty Ltd.. In 2006 the studio was sold to Krome Studios.
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.
Tynesoft Computer Software was a software developer and publisher in the 1980s and early 1990s.
The Atari XG-1 light gun is a video game controller which was released in 1987. Atari's only light gun, it is compatible with the Atari 8-bit computers, Atari 7800, and Atari 2600. It was bundled with the Atari XEGS Deluxe home computer and video game console combination system, and with the light gun game Bug Hunt for the 7800 as model XES2001 for US$34.95. Atari eventually released five light gun games on the 7800 and one on the 2600 (Sentinel).
Cathryn Mataga is a game programmer and founder of independent video game company Junglevision. Under the name William, she wrote Atari 8-bit computer games for Synapse Software in the early to mid 1980s, including Shamus, a flip-screen shooter.
Synapse Software Corporation was an American software developer and publisher founded in 1981 by Ihor Wolosenko and Ken Grant. Synapse published application software and developer tools and was primarily known for video games. It initially focused on the Atari 8-bit computers, then later developed for the Commodore 64 and other systems. Synapse was purchased by Broderbund in late 1984 and the Synapse label retired in 1985.
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.
Heartlight is a puzzle video game originally developed by Janusz Pelc for the Atari 8-bit computers in 1990. In 1994, an MS-DOS port was published by Epic MegaGames along with two other games by Janusz Pelc in the Epic Puzzle Pack. The shareware version has 20 levels and the full version has 70 levels. In 2006, Maciej Miąsik, co-author of the MS-DOS version, released it under the Creative Commons CC BY-SA 2.5 license as freeware. The source code became available too. In 2020, a web browser remake was released with updated graphics.
Legionnaire is a computer wargame for Atari 8-bit computers created by Chris Crawford released through Avalon Hill in 1982. Recreating Julius Caesar's campaigns in a semi-historical setting, the player takes command of the Roman legions in real-time battles against the barbarians.
Robbo is a puzzle video game designed by Janusz Pelc and published by LK Avalon in 1989 for Atari 8-bit computers. A success on the Polish domestic market, it was later ported to other computer platforms and released in the United States as The Adventures of Robbo.
Hans Kloss is a puzzle-platform game designed by Dariusz Żołna and published in Poland by LK Avalon. It was published in 1992 for Atari 8-bit computers. A Commodore 64 conversion, programmed by Janusz Dąbrowski, was released in 1993. The player controls Hans Kloss, the fictional protagonist of the Polish TV series Stawka większa niż życie, during World War II. He must find plans for a secret weapon in Adolf Hitler's headquarters, the Wolf's Lair.
A.D. 2044 is a Polish adventure game by LK Avalon, released September 9, 1996 on Windows.
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Action Quest is a video game written by Jack Verson for Atari 8-bit computers. It was published in 1982 by his company, JV Software. Action Quest combines real-time action with puzzle solving as the player explores 30 rooms in an attempt to collect 20 treasures. Reviewers found the combination to be different from how puzzles in games—such as graphic adventures—worked at the time.