Nintendo

Having looked at Atari, and Sony, and SEGA, and 3DO, there's only one possible choice to do next. Nintendo. A company about whom I know very little indeed. I hope this is easier than writing about SEGA. Fortunately for me, much of the initial hard work has been done by some kind soul who created this page. Thank you. I'll try to build on your work and not just copy it.

The (Mystery) Machine

December 1991. THE ONE magazine published an article by Dave Gruisin about a Los Angeles conference with the grim name of InterTainment 91 (was there ever an InterTainment 92?). The hot news at this industry shindig concerned something called "The Machine". The Machine was protected behind a wall of non-disclosure agreements and yet somehow everyone knew all about it even though no one was talking. According to Dave Gruisin: "The Machine is quite simply going to revolutionise home-computer entertainment." So what was it?

3DO

Here come some absolutely gross assumptions guaranteed to make experts wince. The Mega Drive and SNES are commonly referred to as part of the fourth generation of consoles, but in the UK it was the second generation at best. The eighties were dominated by 8-bit computers, not consoles. It was only really as the eighties ended that Virgin Mastertronic began to have some success selling the SEGA Master System. Around the same time, home grown companies had a go at cracking the console marker. Konix really tried to be a contender with the Multisystem in 1989. Amstrad had a go with the GX4000 console in 1990. But nobody cracked it because consoles didn't break into the wider public consciousness until the period kickstarted by the release of Tetris for the Game Boy, in September 1990, and consolidated by the June 1991 release of Sonic the Hedgehog. That's when the UK market became ripe for plucking.

SEGA

I assumed SEGA was going to be easy. I sat down with the expectation that I'd have a couple of addresses to check out and then I could move on, job done. I wallowed in my ignorance. What is there to say about SEGA's presence in the UK? Megadrive, Saturn, Dreamcast? That's it, isn't it? Obviously the answer is no. I was dealing with two separate SEGAs and nine addresses after a couple of hours of basic research on Companies House. Plus, I needed not to forget about SEGA World London, and another one in Bournemouth, and Virgin Mastertronic. Pass the aspirin.

Future Publishing

Valeside, West Street, Somerton. Somerset TAJ I 7PS

But the biggest news of the moment was that ZZAP! was to be moved from its base in Yeovil to Newsfield's mega-stylish giga-tower block HQ in Ludlow. In the process of moving, a few things were lost such as Gary Penn's Tears For fears tapes, some biros and our erstwhile newshound Ed Banger through an unfortunate accident on the M4. Oh, and Chris Anderson and Bob Wade who decided they prefered Amstrads to Commodores.
(ZZAP!64 Christmas Special 1985 page 96)

Domark

Ferry House, 51-57 Lacy Road, Putney, SW15

When I started this blog I diligently wrote out a list of companies I wanted to cover. Some companies went on the list because they hit my nostalgia buttons, some went on the list because they were big names and it would be odd if they were missing, some went on the list because I thought they might be of specific niche interest to some people, some went on the list because I had a story about them I wanted to tell, and -let's not beat around the bush here- some went on the list because I knew they would be easy. Domark didn't make that first list. Or the second one. Or a couple of the subsequent follow up lists. They didn't even make my backup in-case-of-unforeseen-emergencies list. It's clear I really like lists. What is less clear is, why is there a Domark-shaped hole in my nostalgia?