1 Neville Place, Llandudno, Gwynedd, LL30 3BL
Three covers? One just isn't enough for Mr Chip/Magnetic Fields. The company was the Three Doctors of UK software. Three distinct incarnations each with their own story. First as a publisher of their own games, then a developer for other software houses, and finally a complete rebrand.
the big ZOO
SHAUN SOUTHERN
INTERVIEW: DEREK DELA FUENTE
Shaun Southern is the author of Supercars I and II, and the hugely successful Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge. We went to Wales to worm the truth out of him.[1]
178 West Street/1 Orange Street, Sheffield
This town ain't big enough for both of us. Software houses often cluster. EA has created an entire ecosystem in Guildford. Cambridge remains a hotbed of hardware and software companies. London was always big enough to support a whole load of publishers and developers as were Birmingham, Liverpool, and Manchester. So why am I surprised that Sheffield was the home of Alligata Software and Gremlin Graphics/Interactive? Maybe because Sheffield doesn't feel like a big city (the offices of both companies were within easy walking distance) and partly because Gremlin got so big so quickly that it's difficult to imagine another company surviving in its shade. But Gremlin and Alligata were never really rivals because Alligata was on the way down by the time Gremlin was on the way up.
