Graftgold

2 Freebournes Court, Newland Street, Witham Essex CM8

I remember looking through a friend's copy of ZZAP64 issue 3 and reading Andrew Braybrook's diary, THE BIRTH OF A PARADROID (July 1985 page 46). I didn't realise at the time but this was my introduction to the independent games developer Graftgold. The rapturous reviews of Paradroid and later Uridium produced the first cracks in my ZX Spectrum forever attitude. Looking back, what's surprising is Graftgold's invisibility despite the acclaim. The earliest mention of the developer comes two years later in issue 24 of ZZAP64, in Andrew Braybrook's follow up diary about writing the game Morpheus (April 1987 page 90). The same is true of fellow magazine CRASH where Graftgold is first mentioned in issue 47 (November 1987 page 11).

CRL

CRL House, 9 Kings Yard, Carpenters Road, London, E15

"A golden opportunity from Computer Rentals Limited." That's the eye-catching promise at the back of the October 1982 issue of YOUR COMPUTER (Vol 2 number 10, page 134). The text only advert looks basic but the tone is breezy. "If you have written some software, don't waste it on a small audience of family and friends. Send it to us, and we will take a good look at it. If we like it, we'll publish it, leaving you nothing more to do than cash your royalty cheques... we don't pay meanly... A royalty of £1.50 for each cassette sold is our offer and when you think of the size of the market, you can see how generous we are." The response to the advert must have been good because by January 1983 CRL, or Computer Rentals Limited as they preferred to be known, was advertising seven games in YOUR COMPUTER; Vol 3 issue 1 page 102.