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Ashkeron!
''Ashkeron!'' is an interactive fiction video game developed by Dorset-based Texgate Computers and published by Mirrorsoft for the Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum in 1985. Gameplay The player character is Stephen the Blacksmith who is set to recover five treasures from the castle of an evil wizard. The game has a graphic feature called "walk-thru" where screen pictures scroll in the direction the player travels. The game supports joystick control and has a randomising option where the objects appear in different places in each playthrough. Reception ''Computer Gamer'' said "''Askeron'' icisn't actually a bad game, just very average ... ''Home Computing Weekly'' called the game "complex, challenging and witty". ''Sinclair Programs'' called it " gripping game, excellent value for money". ''Sinclair User'' said " ..it doesn't have the detail which provides a compelling atmosphere". ''Your Spectrum ''Your Sinclair'', originally ''Your Spectrum'' or ''YS'', is a discontinued Briti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mirrorsoft
Mirrorsoft was a British video game publisher founded by Jim Mackonochie as a division of Mirror Group Newspapers. The company was active between 1983 and 1991, and shut down completely in early 1992. History In the early 1980s, Jim Mackonochie worked as development manager for British communications company Mirror Group Newspapers. On a trip to the U.S., Mackonochie got a hold of a Commodore PET personal computer, alongside a copy of VisiCalc, a spreadsheet application for the system. This combination led him to believe that Mirror, as a communications company, should be working more closely with computer software, wherefore he approached Mirror's board of directors in 1983, suggesting that they launch a software label under Mirror Group's name, and thereby diversifying the group's non-newspaper operations, which already included Mirror Boats and Mirror Books. The division, named Mirrorsoft, was officially launched in late 1983, and Mackonochie was allowed to task several ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mirrorsoft Games
Mirrorsoft was a British video game publisher founded by Jim Mackonochie as a division of Mirror Group Newspapers. The company was active between 1983 and 1991, and shut down completely in early 1992. History In the early 1980s, Jim Mackonochie worked as development manager for British communications company Mirror Group Newspapers. On a trip to the U.S., Mackonochie got a hold of a Commodore PET personal computer, alongside a copy of VisiCalc, a spreadsheet application for the system. This combination led him to believe that Mirror, as a communications company, should be working more closely with computer software, wherefore he approached Mirror's board of directors in 1983, suggesting that they launch a software label under Mirror Group's name, and thereby diversifying the group's non-newspaper operations, which already included Mirror Boats and Mirror Books. The division, named Mirrorsoft, was officially launched in late 1983, and Mackonochie was allowed to task several of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinclair User
The ''Sinclair User'' was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of home computers, most specifically the ZX Spectrum (while also occasionally covering arcade games). Initially published by ECC Publications, and later EMAP, it was published in the UK between 1982 and 1993, and was the longest running Sinclair-based magazine. The magazine contained news, game reviews, previews, tips, help guides, columns, readers' letters, and cover-mounted game demos. History In earlier years, the magazine built up personality cults around some of its "hilariously" monikered staff, including Bill "Incorruptible" Scolding, John "Disgusting" Gilbert, Chris "Lunchbreaks" Bourne, Claire "Ligger" Edgely, Richard Price (writer of the "Gordo Greatbelly" adventure tips section), and columnist Andrew Hewson (founder of Hewson Consultants software). Under David Kelly's editorial tenure, the magazine began to focus more on the gaming scene, and featured more colour graphics under designer Gar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Single-player Video Games
A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the gameplay. Video games in general can feature several game modes, including single-player modes designed to be played by a single player in addition to multi-player modes. Most modern console games, PC games and arcade games are designed so that they can be played by a single player; although many of these games have modes that allow two or more players to play (not necessarily simultaneously), very few actually require more than one player for the game to be played. The '' Unreal Tournament'' series is one example of such. History The earliest video games, such as '' Tennis for Two'' (1958), '' Spacewar!'' (1962), and '' Pong'' (1972), were symmetrical games designed to be played by two players. Single-player games gained popularity only after this, with early titles such as '' Speed Race'' (1974) and '' Space Invaders'' (1978). The reason for this, according to Raph Ko ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fantasy Video Games
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or magical elements, often including imaginary places and creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, which later became fantasy literature and drama. From the twentieth century onward, it has expanded into various media, including film, television, graphic novels, manga, animation, and video games. The expression ''fantastic literature'' is often used for this genre by Anglophone literary critics. An archaic spelling for the term is ''phantasy''. Fantasy is generally distinguished from the genres of science fiction and horror by an absence of scientific or macabre themes, although these can occur in fantasy. In popular culture, the fantasy genre predominantly features settings that reflect the actual Earth, but with some sense of otherness. Characteristics Many works of fantasy use magic or other supernatural elements as a main plot element, theme, or setting. Magic, magic practitioners ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amstrad CPC Games
Amstrad plc was a British consumer electronics company, founded in 1968 by Alan Sugar. During the 1980s, the company was known for its home computers beginning with the Amstrad CPC and later also the ZX Spectrum range after the Sinclair deal, which led it to have a substantial share of the home computer market in Britain. In the following decade it shifted focus towards communication technologies, and its main business during the 2000s was the manufacture of satellite television set-top boxes for Sky, which Amstrad had started in 1989 as the then sole supplier of the emerging Sky TV service. Headquartered in Brentwood, the company was listed on the London Stock Exchange from 1980 to 2008, the year when Sugar stepped down after 40 years. After acquiring Betacom and Viglen, Amstrad was broken up in 1997 but the name was soon revived when successor Betacom plc renamed itself to Amstrad plc. Amstrad was a FTSE 100 Index constituent up until the company was acquired by BSkyB ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1985 Video Games
1985 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as ''Super Mario Bros.'' and ''Kung-Fu Master (video game), Kung Fu'', along with new titles such as ''Commando (video game), Commando'', ''Duck Hunt'', ''Gauntlet (1985 video game), Gauntlet'', ''Ghosts 'n Goblins (video game), Ghosts 'n Goblins'', ''Gradius (video game), Gradius'', ''Hang-On'', ''Space Harrier'', ''Tetris'' and ''The Way of the Exploding Fist''. The year's highest-grossing arcade video games were ''Hang-On'' and ''Karate Champ'' in the United States, and ''Commando'' in the United Kingdom. The year's bestselling home system was the Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom) for a consecutive year, while the year's bestselling home video game was ''Super Mario Bros.'' Financial performance In Video games in the United States, the United States, annual Video game crash of 1983, home video game sales fell to ( adjusted for inflation) in 1985. Meanwhile, the arcade video game industry began recovering in 1985. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1980s Interactive Fiction
__NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 198 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire *January 28 **Publius Septimius Geta, son of Septimius Severus, receives the title of Caesar. **Caracalla, son of Septimius Severus, is given the title of Augustus. China *Winter – Battle of Xiapi: The allied armies led by Cao Cao and Liu Bei defeat Lü Bu; afterward Cao Cao has him executed. By topic Religion * Marcus I succeeds Olympianus as Patriarch of Constantinople (until 211). Births * Lu Kai, Chinese official and general (d. 269) * Quan Cong, Chinese general and advisor (d. 249) Deaths * Li Jue, Chinese warlord and rege ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dennis Publishing
Dennis Publishing Ltd. was a British publisher. It was founded in 1973 by Felix Dennis. Its first publication was a kung-fu magazine. Most of its titles now belong to Future plc. In the 1980s, it became a leading publisher of computer enthusiast magazines in the United Kingdom. In the 1990s, it expanded to the American market, where it published the lifestyle magazines ''Maxim'', the consumer electronics magazine ''Stuff'', and the music magazine '' Blender''. In 2007, the company sold all its American holdings, with the exception of the U.S. edition of ''The Week''. Felix Dennis died in 2014, leaving ownership of the company to the charity organization Heart of England Forest. In 2018, the company was sold to Exponent, a British private equity firm. Future plc acquired the company and its 12 titles in August 2021, absorbing them into Future Publishing. History Foundation and early development Felix Dennis started in the magazine business in the late 1960s as one of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Your Spectrum
''Your Sinclair'', originally ''Your Spectrum'' or ''YS'', is a discontinued British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum. It was commercially published between 1984 and 1993. History The magazine was launched in January 1984 as ''Your Spectrum'' by Sportscene Specialist Press. (Sportscene would later be renamed to Dennis Publishing in April 1987.) Initially, it was published bimonthly, changing to monthly in June 1984. With the January 1986 issue, the title was relaunched as ''Your Sinclair'', with the intention of expanding coverage of the QL into the main magazine (previously, ''QL User'' had been a pull-out section within the magazine), and any future computers produced by Sinclair. However, the magazine remained focused almost entirely on the ZX Spectrum games scene. In 1990, the magazine was sold to Bath-based Future plc, and the April 1990 issue was the first to be published by the new company. That issue's news section containe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Argus Specialist Publications
Argus Press was a British publishing company. It was acquired by British Electric Traction (BET) in 1966, and became the publishing arm of that company. It was the subject of one of the most hotly contested management buyouts of the 1980s when a management team led by Kimble Earl, George Fowkes, and Scott Smith secured financing of £207m from forty national and international banks to acquire the UK and US businesses from BET. The acquisition was of particular note as the publisher Robert Maxwell was among the rival bidders, and widely considered as capable of out-witting the management team. Only an eleventh-hour intervention by Earl – exposing members of Maxwell's secret consortium as rival newspaper publishers which meant Maxwell would fall foul of the Monopolies Commission – brought success for the management team. The new company traded under the name of Team Argus. Its portfolio of businesses included the largest group of paid-for and free weekly newspapers in the UK, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
