 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1 May 1990 |
| Founders |
|
| Defunct | 1997 |
| Fate | Dissolved |
| Headquarters | , England |
Key people |
|
Twilight was a British video game developer based in Harrogate.
| | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1 May 1990 |
| Founders |
|
| Defunct | 1997 |
| Fate | Dissolved |
| Headquarters | , England |
Key people |
|
Twilight was a British video game developer based in Harrogate.
Twilight was founded by Stuart Cook, Mark Mason, Jason McGann, Andy Swann, and Peter Tattersall. They worked together at Enigma Variations, a studio based in Harrogate, where they mostly created games based on licensed properties in short timespans. [1] In 1989, Mason was fired, leading Cook, McGann, Swann, and Tattersall to leave the company in early 1990. [2] [3] The five founded Twilight on 1 May 1990. While trying to come up with a company name, Tattersall began humming the theme music of The Twilight Zone , leading them to settle on the name "Twilight". He also created the company's logo, taking inspiration from Roger Dean with the aim of making it easily representable on a Commodore 64. [1]
The company rented its first office in a mid-terrace house on Mayfield Grove in Harrogate. Its first game was Delta Charge, a port of Delta from the Commodore 64 to the ZX Spectrum, released by Thalamus Ltd. Throughout 1990, Twilight attracted projects from multiple publishers, including several titles from licensed properties for Hi-Tec Software. Having hired Mark Barker, Wayne Billingham, Dave Box, Noel Hines, Rob Holman, Andy Severn, Martin Severn, and James Smart, the company operated with two development teams, one working for 8-bit platforms while the other began exploring games for 16-bit platforms. Twilight ultimately moved into proper offices within Harrogate. [1]
In 1994, shortly after finishing Alfred Chicken for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, McGann and Tattersall left Twilight to form Hookstone. [1] [2] Twilight subsequently agreed to transfer the rights to Alfred Chicken, which McGann had conceived, to Hookstone. [2] Swann also left the company around this time. In the following years, Cook and Mason continued to run the company, which saw a significant decline in development projects. Following the cancellation of Frog Dude and a game in the style of Fantasy Quest for Telstar, Twilight struggled with the transition to 3D video games. Cook and Mason paid off and fired all staff, and the company was ultimately shut down in 1997. [1]
The Master System is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series of consoles, which was released in Japan in 1985 and featured enhanced graphical capabilities over its predecessors. The Master System launched in North America in 1986, followed by Europe in 1987, and then in Brazil and Korea in 1989. A Japanese version of the Master System was also launched in 1987, which features a few enhancements over the export models : a built-in FM audio chip, a rapid-fire switch, and a dedicated port for the 3D glasses. The Master System II, a cheaper model, was released in 1990 in North America, Australasia and Europe.
Harrogate is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa waters and RHS Harlow Carr gardens. 13 miles (21 km) away from the town centre is the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the Nidderdale AONB. Harrogate grew out of two smaller settlements, High Harrogate and Low Harrogate, in the 17th century. For three consecutive years (2013–2015), polls voted the town as "the happiest place to live" in Britain.
Bullfrog Productions Limited was a British video game developer based in Guildford, England. Founded in 1987 by Peter Molyneux and Les Edgar, the company gained recognition in 1989 for their third release, Populous, and is also well known for titles such as Theme Park, Magic Carpet, Syndicate and Dungeon Keeper. Bullfrog's name was derived from an ornament in the offices of Edgar's and Molyneux's other enterprise, Taurus Impact Systems, Bullfrog's precursor where Molyneux and Edgar were developing business software. Bullfrog Productions was founded as a separate entity after Commodore mistook Taurus for a similarly named company.
Matthew Smith is a British computer game programmer. He created the games Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy for the ZX Spectrum, released in 1983 and 1984 respectively. Smith left the games industry in 1988 and later moved to the Netherlands. He has since returned to the UK and has worked on some games as well as appearing at conventions and in documentaries.
Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja, also known simply as either Bad Dudes or DragonNinja, is a side-scrolling cooperative beat 'em up game developed and released by Data East for arcades in 1988. It was also ported to many computer and game console home systems.
Your Sinclair, or YS as it was commonly abbreviated, was a commercially published and printed British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum. It was in circulation between 1984 and 1993.
Crash is a magazine dedicated to the ZX Spectrum home computer, primarily focused on games. It was published from 1984 to 1991 by Newsfield Publications Ltd until their liquidation, and then until 1992 by Europress. It was relaunched as a quarterly A5 magazine in December 2020 with the backing of the original founders.
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.
Rockstar Leeds Limited is a British video game developer and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Leeds. Ian J. Bowden, Dave Box, Gordon Hall, and Jason McGann founded the company as Möbius Entertainment in December 1997 after working together at the studio Hookstone. Möbius worked with SCi on two games: Alfred's Adventure, a remake of the Twilight-developed Alfred Chicken, and the cancelled Titanium Angels, an adaptation of Thunderbirds. From 2001 on, the studio created Game Boy Advance games for several publishers, including multiple for The 3DO Company and Max Payne for Rockstar Games.
The Commodore 64 Games System is the cartridge-based home video game console version of the popular Commodore 64 home computer. It was released in December 1990 by Commodore into a booming console market dominated by Nintendo and Sega. It was only released in Europe and was a considerable commercial failure.
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.
Ernest Kellogg Gann was an American aviator, author, sailor, and conservationist. He is best known for his novels and memoirs about early aviation and nautical adventures. Some of his more famous aviation novels include The High and the Mighty and Island in the Sky, both of which were turned into Hollywood movies starring John Wayne. Gann's classic memoir of early commercial aviation, Fate Is the Hunter, is still in print today and considered by many one of the greatest aviation books ever written. Some of Gann's nautical-themed novels include Fiddler's Green and Soldier of Fortune, which were also turned into major motion pictures.
Yogi's Great Escape is a 1987 animated made-for-television film produced by Hanna-Barbera as part of the Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 series. The two-hour film aired in syndication.
Adam Williams was an American film and television actor.
Navy SEALS is a shoot 'em up platform video game developed and published by Ocean Software. It was first released in the United Kingdom for the Amstrad CPC, Amstrad GX4000 and Commodore 64 in 1990. It was later re-released in the rest of Europe for the ZX Spectrum, Atari ST and Amiga home computers in the following year. It was then ported to the Game Boy on 1 September 1991 in the United States. The game is based on the film of the same name and follows the protagonist, Lieutenant Dale Hawkins, progressing through five side-scrolling levels.
Ninja Gaiden, released in Japan as Ninja Ryūkenden and in Europe as Shadow Warriors, is a 1988 side-scrolling beat-'em-up game, originally released by Tecmo as a coin-operated arcade video game. It was first released in North America and Europe in late 1988, and then in Japan in February 1989. It was the first game released in the Ninja Gaiden franchise. The arcade game was a major commercial success in North America, becoming the highest-grossing arcade conversion kit of 1989 in the United States.
RoboCop is a beat 'em up / run and gun video game developed and published by Data East for arcades in 1988] based on the 1987 film of the same name. It was sub-licensed to Data East by Ocean Software, who obtained the rights from Orion Pictures at the script stage. Data East and Ocean Software subsequently adapted the arcade game for home computers.
Piranha Software was a short-lived video game publishing label created by Macmillan Publishers in 1986 and closed eighteen months later. In that time it gained a reputation for its unusual output from well known developers such as Don Priestley, Design Design and Delta 4. The majority of their games featured licensed properties including the first video game based on the Discworld novels and two games based on the animated television series The Trap Door.
Yogi's Great Escape is a 1990 platform game based on the 1987 movie of the same name. It was developed by British studio PAL Developments and published by Hi-Tec Software as a budget game. It was released in Europe for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Atari 8bit and ZX Spectrum.
Quick Draw McGraw is a fictional anthropomorphic horse and the protagonist and title character of The Quick Draw McGraw Show. He is a white horse, wearing a red Stetson cowboy hat, a red holster belt, a light blue bandana, and occasionally spurs. He was voiced by Daws Butler. All 45 of his cartoons that originally aired between 1959 and 1961 were written by Michael Maltese, known best for his work at the Warner Bros. cartoon studio. The cartoon was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1960.