Hewson Consultants were one of the smaller

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

companies which produced

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

s for

home computer Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a s ...

s in the mid-1980s. They had a reputation for high-quality games which continually pushed the boundaries of what the computers were capable of and can be compared favourably with other ground-breaking software houses like

Ultimate Play the Game Ashby Computers and Graphics Limited, trading as Ultimate Play the Game, was a British video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher, founded in 1982, by ex-arcade video game developers Tim and Chris Stamper. Ultimate released a seri ...

and Beyond. Fourteen of their games were awarded "Megagame" by ''

Your Sinclair ''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 la ...

''. Hewson was founded by Andrew Hewson in the early 1980s. He became interested in computers while working at the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

when their first machine arrived. After learning to

program Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...

, Andrew wrote the programming guide book ''Hints and Tips for the

ZX80 The Sinclair ZX80 is a home computer launched on 29 January 1980 by Science of Cambridge Ltd. (later to be better known as Sinclair Research). It is notable for being one of the first computers available in the United Kingdom for less than a hu ...

''. Following the publication, bedroom coders began to send Andrew the games they had programmed on cassette tape, giving him the idea to publish the games. Hewson Consultants was born, and initially released games via mail order advertisements in computing magazines. Andrew was also a columnist in ''

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 pub ...

'' magazine throughout the 1980s.

Releases

* '' Space Intruders'' - 1981 - ''

Space Invaders is a 1978 shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Taito for Arcade video game, arcades. It was released in Japan in April 1978, with the game being released by Midway Manufacturing overseas. ''Space Invaders'' was the first fixed s ...

'' clone for the ZX81 * ''Pilot'' - 1982 * ''Nightflite'' - 1982 *
Heathrow Air Traffic Control
' - 1983 *
Nightflite II
' - 1983 *

ref>Clive Brooker'' - 1983 * '' Quest Adventure'' - 1983 * '' 3D Space-Wars'' - 1983 * '' 3D Seiddab Attack'' - 1984 * ''

3D Lunattack The Seiddab Trilogy is a series of video games designed by Steve Turner (as Graftgold) for the ZX Spectrum and published by Hewson Consultants. It consists of '' 3D Space-Wars'' (1983), ''3D Seiddab Attack'' (1984), and ''3D Lunattack''. All thr ...

'' - 1984 - Reviewed in Crash issue 4 - 90% * ''

Avalon Avalon () is an island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appeared in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' as a place of magic where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was made and later where Arthur was taken to recove ...

'' - 1984 - Reviewed in Crash issue 10 - 91% * ''

Technician Ted ''Technician Ted'' (also known as ''The Chip Factory: Featuring Technician Ted'') is a platform game for the Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum home computers that was written by Steve Marsden and David Cooke and published in 1984 by Hewson Consultants. ...

'' - 1984 - Reviewed in Crash issue 13 - 96% * ''

Dragontorc ''Dragontorc'' is an action-adventure game developed by Steve Turner (game programmer), Steve Turner's Graftgold and released for the Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum by Hewson Consultants in 1985. It is a sequel to 1984's ''Avalon The 3D Adventure Mo ...

'' - 1985 * ''

Astro Clone Astro may refer to: Entertainment and media * Astro (South Korean band), a South Korean boy band * Astro (UB40) (born Terence Wilson) (1957–2021), rapper and member of the British reggae band UB40 * Astro (Chilean band), a Chilean indie roc ...

'' - 1985 * ''

Paradroid ''Paradroid'' is a Commodore 64 video game written by Andrew Braybrook and published by Hewson Consultants in 1985. It is a shoot 'em up with puzzle elements and was critically praised at release. The objective is to clear a fleet of spaceship ...

'' - 1985 * ''

Gribbly's Day Out ''Gribbly's Day Out'' is a Commodore 64 game by Andrew Braybrook, released by Hewson in 1985. It was written over a three-month period. The game is set on the planet Blabgor and centred on the exploits of Gribbly Grobbly and his attempts to resc ...

'' - 1985 * '' Firelord'' - 1986 * ''

Pyracurse ''Pyracurse'' is an isometric arcade adventure game released by Hewson in 1986 for the ZX Spectrum. Plot The archeologist Sir Pericles Pemberton-Smythe has disappeared while exploring the mysterious ruins of an ancient city in the forests of ...

'' - 1986 * ''

Quazatron ''Quazatron'' is an action game developed by Graftgold, and released in 1986 by Hewson Consultants. It was designed by Steve Turner for the ZX Spectrum, and draws inspiration from the Commodore 64 game Paradroid. Plot In ''Quazatron'', the ...

'' - 1986 * ''

Southern Belle "Southern belle" () is a colloquialism for a debutante or other fashionable young woman of European heritage in the planter class of the Antebellum South, particularly as a romantic counterpart to the Southern gentleman. Characteristics Th ...

'' - 1986 * ''

Uridium ''Uridium'' (released for the NES as ''The Last Starfighter'') is a horizontally scrolling shooter designed by Andrew Braybrook for the Commodore 64 and published by Hewson Consultants in 1986. The game consists of fifteen levels, each named ...

'' - 1986 * '' Technician Ted: The Megamix'' - 1986 * ''

Cybernoid ''Cybernoid: The Fighting Machine'' is a shoot 'em up developed and published in 1988 by Hewson Consultants for the ZX Spectrum. It was ported to the Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amiga, and Nintendo Entertainment System. It was programmed ...

'' - 1987 * ''

Exolon ''Exolon'' is a run and gun game programmed by Raffaele Cecco and published by Hewson in 1987 for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and Amstrad CPC. It was later converted to the Enterprise 128, Amiga, and Atari ST. Gameplay The player takes co ...

'' - 1987 * ''

Zynaps ''Zynaps'' is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up video game published by Hewson Consultants for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64 in 1987 and for the Atari ST in 1988 and the Amiga. It was authored by Dominic Robinson, John Cumming and ...

'' - 1987 * '' Impossaball'' - 1987 * '' Nebulus'' - 1987 * ''

Ranarama ''Ranarama'' (also ''Rana Rama'') is a top-down '' Gauntlet''-like action game developed by Graftgold and published by Hewson Consultants in 1987. It was released for the Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum home computers. The t ...

'' - 1987 * ''Evening Star'' - 1987 * ''

Anarchy Anarchy is a form of society without rulers. As a type of stateless society, it is commonly contrasted with states, which are centralized polities that claim a monopoly on violence over a permanent territory. Beyond a lack of government, it can ...

'' - 1987 * ''

Netherworld Netherworld (''nether'', ″beneath, lower″) may refer to: *Underworld, a region thought to be beneath the surface of the world in many religions and mythologies Film and television * ''Netherworld'' (film), a 1992 American horror film *''Nethe ...

'' - 1988 * '' Cybernoid II: The Revenge'' - 1988 * ''

Marauder Marauder, marauders, The Marauder, or The Marauders may refer to: * A person engaged in banditry or related activity ** Piracy ** Looting ** Outlaw ** Partisan (military) ** Robbery ** Theft Entertainment * ''Marauder'', the second novel in th ...

'' - 1988 * '' Zamzara'' - 1988 * ''

Eliminator Eliminator may refer to: People and characters *The Eliminators (band), a band which covered " The Saint" from '' Surfbeat Behind the Iron Curtain, Volume 1'' *The Eliminators, a professional wrestling tag team that consisted of John Kronus and P ...

'' - 1988 * '' Battle Valley'' - 1988 * ''

Steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

'' - 1989 * ''

Stormlord ''Stormlord'' is a platform game developed and published by Hewson Consultants in 1989. It was released for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, and MS-DOS. It was ported to the Sega Genesis by Punk Development for Razors ...

'' - 1989 * ''Astaroth'' - 1989 * '' Onslaught'' - 1989 * ''

Deliverance ''Deliverance'' is a 1972 American thriller film directed and produced by John Boorman from a screenplay by James Dickey, who adapted it from his own Deliverance (novel), 1970 novel. It follows four businessmen from Atlanta who venture into th ...

'' - 1990 * '' Insects in Space'' - 1990 * ''

Zarathrusta ''Zarathrusta'' is a 1991 multidirectional shooter developed by Belgian video game developer The Whiz Kidz and published by Hewson Consultants for the Amiga. Written by Peter Verswyvelen and with graphics by Erlend Robaye, the game is inspired by ...

'' - 1991

Legacy

Andrew and other members of the Hewson management team went on to form 21st Century Entertainment after Hewson shut down in the early 1990s, releasing several games such as ''

Pinball Dreams ''Pinball Dreams'' is a pinball simulation video game developed by Digital Illusions and originally released for the Amiga in 1992. It spawned several sequels, including ''Pinball Fantasies'' and ''Pinball Illusions''. The MS-DOS port was digita ...

'', ''

Pinball Fantasies ''Pinball Fantasies'' is a 1992 pinball video game originally developed by DICE (company), Digital Illusions and published by 21st Century Entertainment in Europe for the Amiga home computers. It is the sequel to ''Pinball Dreams'', which was re ...

'' and ''

Pinball Illusions ''Pinball Illusions'' is an Amiga and MS-DOS pinball video game developed by Digital Illusions CE (DICE) in 1995 as a sequel of ''Pinball Fantasies'' and '' Pinball Dreams''. The original Amiga release featured three tables. The PC CD version ...

''. Andrew was also the founder of

ELSPA The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment (Ukie) is a non-profit trade association for the video game industry in the United Kingdom (UK). Ukie was founded in 1989 as the European Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), then chang ...

(European Leisure Software Publishers Association) which continues to be the European regulating body for the video games industry.

References

External links

*{{official website, https://web.archive.org/web/19961023023529/http://www.21stcent.com/ (archived, 21st Century Entertainment) Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom