Tuesday, November 2, 2021

The Map


Recently I found this article in a 1991 issue of THE ONE magazine (October 1991 page 50).



It's a snapshot of the UK industry at a time when everyone still thought 16-bit was the future, and the release of the PlayStation -which really would change everything- was four years away. Liverpool and Manchester are represented by Psygnosis and Ocean, alone. The gaming heritage of both cities has been whittled away until just two massive companies remain. Elite is still going, as are Domark and US Gold who have both yet to regenerate into Eidos. And over in Reading, Thalamus have just survived the liquidation of their original parent company Newsfield; publishers of CRASH and ZZAP64.

I'm surprised to see how few of the companies I've covered; right now (with now being October 2022) I make it four, Elite, Mirrorsoft, System 3, and Virgin. It shows how much my own personal nostalgia is biased towards the 80s 8-bit industry, and though I did go 16-bit with an Atari ST, and even 32-bit with a PlayStation, those machines don't hold the same soft spot in my memory.

Oh, and Dartford residents won't have been happy to be lumped in with London. It may be on the inside of the M25, unlike Slough which just squeaks outside, but it's part of Kent. Not Greater London.

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