Difference between revisions of "Microdeal"

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'''Microdeal''' was a British software company which operated during the 1980s and early 1990s from its base at Truro Road in the town of [[St Austell]], [[Cornwall]]. The company, founded by John Symes was one of the major producers of games and other software for the 8-bit home computers of the time, in particular the [[Dragon 32]] and the similar [[Tandy]] [[TRS-80 Color Computer]] ("CoCo").  
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'''Microdeal''' was a British software company which operated during the 1980s and early 1990s from its base at Truro Road in the town of St Austell, Cornwall. The company, founded by John Symes was one of the major producers of games and other software for the 8-bit home computers of the time, in particular the [[Dragon 32]] and the similar Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer ("CoCo").  
  
The 8-bit software market dwindled toward the end of the 1980s and Symes officially announced that Microdeal would no longer publish for the Dragon and Tandy machines on 1 January 1988; from this point they would concentrate on the newer generation of 16-bit computers, the [[Commodore Amiga]] and [[Atari ST]], with their remaining stock of Dragon and Tandy software to be sold off by a company called ''Computape''. Many of Microdeal's 16-bit titles were updated versions of successful 8-bit games such as [[Time Bandit]] and [[Tanglewood]], but they proved less successful the second time around, however they did produce what has been described as the best game ever for the Atari ST which was Goldrunner.{{Fact|date=March 2009}} This was followed by one of the first film conversions to Software of Columbia's "Karate Kid" The company was quick to recognise the music capabilities of the Atari ST and Amiga and went in production of Music Samplers such as "MasterSound" and "Amas" the latter of which was featured on a [[Paula Abdul]] [[music video]] which won [[MTV's Music Video of the year award]]. The companies publishing licences were sold to "Hi-Soft and it ceased trading in the early 1990s.
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The 8-bit software market dwindled toward the end of the 1980s and Symes officially announced that Microdeal would no longer publish for the Dragon and Tandy machines on 1 January 1988; from this point they would concentrate on the newer generation of 16-bit computers, the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST, with their remaining stock of Dragon and Tandy software to be sold off by a company called ''Computape''. The companies publishing licences were sold to "Hi-Soft and it ceased trading in the early 1990s.
  
 
==Activities==
 
==Activities==
Some of Microdeal's software was produced in-house by the company's own programmers (including [[Steve Bak]], [[Rita Jay]] and [[Ed Scio]]) but they also licensed software from foreign sources, such as the American [[Tom Mix Software]] and [[Spectral Associates]], and published the works of independent programmers (notably [[Ken Kalish]] who was responsible for some of their most successful titles). Much of the software brought to Britain from the US was originally written for the Tandy CoCo (which was the more popular machine there) and converted to work with the Dragon. These conversions were contracted out to a company called Northern Software Consultants where they were handled by lead programmer Chas Robertson. Chas also designed the [[dongle]] device that was experimentally used for [[copy protection]] of a single Microdeal title, ''[[Buzzard Bait]]''. Some of Microdeal's licenced games were renamed for the British market. For example, they released a series of games based around the company mascot ''Cuthbert'' (''[[Cuthbert Goes Digging]]'', ''[[Cuthbert in the Jungle]]'', etc). The original members of this series were written in-house by Steve Bak, but later additions were completely unrelated. Rather, they were renamed titles from several different sources - the graphical limitations of computers at that time meant that a character was unrecognisable and could be given any convenient name. Microdeal also had a brand called ''Pocket Money Software'', which published simpler games submitted by users at a lower price than the main titles. While some Pocket Money games were arguably of poor quality, others were among the company's most popular titles.
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Some of Microdeal's software was produced in-house by the company's own programmers (including [[Steve Bak]], [[Rita Jay]] and [[Ed Scio]]) but they also licensed software from foreign sources, such as the American [[Tom Mix Software]] and [[Spectral Associates]], and published the works of independent programmers (notably [[Ken Kalish]] who was responsible for some of their most successful titles). Much of the software brought to Britain from the US was originally written for the Tandy CoCo (which was the more popular machine there) and converted to work with the Dragon. These conversions were contracted out to a company called Northern Software Consultants where they were handled by lead programmer Chas Robertson. Chas also designed the dongle device that was experimentally used for [[copy protection]] of a single Microdeal title, ''[[Buzzard Bait]]''. Some of Microdeal's licenced games were renamed for the British market. For example, they released a series of games based around the company mascot ''Cuthbert'' (''[[Cuthbert Goes Digging]]'', ''[[Cuthbert in the Jungle]]'', etc). The original members of this series were written in-house by [[Steve Bak]], but later additions were completely unrelated. Rather, they were renamed titles from several different sources - the graphical limitations of computers at that time meant that a character was unrecognisable and could be given any convenient name. Microdeal also had a brand called ''[[Pocket Money Software]]'', which published simpler games submitted by users at a lower price than the main titles. While some Pocket Money games were arguably of poor quality, others were among the company's most popular titles.
  
 
Microdeal also sold Cuthbert-branded blank media (tapes, disks, etc), re-boxed and sometimes adapted hardware (such as joysticks) made by other companies and published an occasional semi-informative, semi-promotional magazine called ''[[The Cuthbert Chronicle]]''. They also accounted for most of the advertising space and reviews of [[Dragon User]] magazine.
 
Microdeal also sold Cuthbert-branded blank media (tapes, disks, etc), re-boxed and sometimes adapted hardware (such as joysticks) made by other companies and published an occasional semi-informative, semi-promotional magazine called ''[[The Cuthbert Chronicle]]''. They also accounted for most of the advertising space and reviews of [[Dragon User]] magazine.
  
 
John Symes the founder of Microdeal now runs a car dealership in Bournemouth [http://www.symesmini.com] . His contact details are also on here for information on Microdeal!
 
John Symes the founder of Microdeal now runs a car dealership in Bournemouth [http://www.symesmini.com] . His contact details are also on here for information on Microdeal!

Revision as of 23:52, 16 March 2009

Microdeal was a British software company which operated during the 1980s and early 1990s from its base at Truro Road in the town of St Austell, Cornwall. The company, founded by John Symes was one of the major producers of games and other software for the 8-bit home computers of the time, in particular the Dragon 32 and the similar Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer ("CoCo").

The 8-bit software market dwindled toward the end of the 1980s and Symes officially announced that Microdeal would no longer publish for the Dragon and Tandy machines on 1 January 1988; from this point they would concentrate on the newer generation of 16-bit computers, the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST, with their remaining stock of Dragon and Tandy software to be sold off by a company called Computape. The companies publishing licences were sold to "Hi-Soft and it ceased trading in the early 1990s.

Activities

Some of Microdeal's software was produced in-house by the company's own programmers (including Steve Bak, Rita Jay and Ed Scio) but they also licensed software from foreign sources, such as the American Tom Mix Software and Spectral Associates, and published the works of independent programmers (notably Ken Kalish who was responsible for some of their most successful titles). Much of the software brought to Britain from the US was originally written for the Tandy CoCo (which was the more popular machine there) and converted to work with the Dragon. These conversions were contracted out to a company called Northern Software Consultants where they were handled by lead programmer Chas Robertson. Chas also designed the dongle device that was experimentally used for copy protection of a single Microdeal title, Buzzard Bait. Some of Microdeal's licenced games were renamed for the British market. For example, they released a series of games based around the company mascot Cuthbert (Cuthbert Goes Digging, Cuthbert in the Jungle, etc). The original members of this series were written in-house by Steve Bak, but later additions were completely unrelated. Rather, they were renamed titles from several different sources - the graphical limitations of computers at that time meant that a character was unrecognisable and could be given any convenient name. Microdeal also had a brand called Pocket Money Software, which published simpler games submitted by users at a lower price than the main titles. While some Pocket Money games were arguably of poor quality, others were among the company's most popular titles.

Microdeal also sold Cuthbert-branded blank media (tapes, disks, etc), re-boxed and sometimes adapted hardware (such as joysticks) made by other companies and published an occasional semi-informative, semi-promotional magazine called The Cuthbert Chronicle. They also accounted for most of the advertising space and reviews of Dragon User magazine.

John Symes the founder of Microdeal now runs a car dealership in Bournemouth [1] . His contact details are also on here for information on Microdeal!