Datel
Encyclopedia
Datel is a UK
-based electronics and game console
peripheral
s manufacturer. The company is best known for producing a wide range of hardware and peripherals for home computer
s in the 1980s, for example replacement keyboards for the ZX Spectrum
, the PlusD disk interface (originally designed and sold by Miles Gordon Technology
) and the Action Replay
series of video game cheating devices.
Datel was the brainchild of Mike Connors, who still runs the company and has been mentioned in The Sunday Times
as one of the country's top thousand richest people.
transceivers in the UK. These AM-band radios were made illegal in the UK and even the importing of them was deemed illegal. Datel then started to import the CB radios in component form and build them up.
The company started to manufacture products related to home computers that were popular in the 1980s such as the Commodore 64
, Amstrad CPC
and ZX Spectrum
. Such devices included silicon discs, light pen
s and memory expansion. One of their first commercial successes was joystick interfaces for the ZX Spectrum.
The greatest commercial success of Datel was the Action Replay
, first for the Commodore 64 and then the Commodore Amiga. The Commodore 64 version was designed by Richard Bond, with six versions ultimately developed in all. The Commodore Amiga version was authored by two German students, Olaf Boehm and Joerg Zanger, who had been inspired by the earlier Commodore 64 version.
The Commodore 64 and Amiga Action Replays included the ability to save the entire contents of a home computer
's memory to floppy disk
or compact audio cassette, and then to reload very quickly. This proved extremely popular with people, especially when the Commodore 64 could take 20 minutes to load a game from notoriously unreliable tape. It also did not escape people's attention that you could use Action Replays to copy games. The name Action Replay
referred to the fact that you could instantly restart a game from the position that you had saved it.
Another feature the Amiga and Commodore 64 versions had in common was the ability to add POKE
s, or cheats. They also had a system for finding pokes called a Pokefinder, or trainer.
Datel also made numerous unique copy devices for various systems that proved extremely popular. Devices such as the Syncro Express as well as the Action Replay exerted a heavy toll on the fledgeling video games industry. It has been said that Datel in part was responsible for the demise of the home computer games market. Hundreds of thousands of Syncro Express units, each copying 10 to 100 games, may have had an impact. The 1988 Act Copyright law of the United Kingdom
was designed to halt the casual copying of games in this way.
project. The OCP Art Studio painting software was also successful, in part due to the bundled mouse
, which was a novelty on 8-bit systems. People bought it to make their home computer
s feel like a personal computer
.
During the mid-'90s, home computers, which were almost exclusively used for games, started to be replaced by video game console
s. Datel took the Pokes and Pokefinder features of the earlier Action Replays and created Action Replay for the Sega Mega Drive. This was followed shortly after by the Action Replay Pro, which used a superior system sometimes referred to as RAM stuffing. This, combined with a built-in Trainer, allowed users to easily find their own codes.
The Action Replay was in competition for some time with Codemasters
' Game Genie
, which was distributed by Galoob
. At first, Codemasters tried to protect the Game Genie as they had filed a patent on cartridge cheat devices, Datel defended this by saying that they had been cheating at games since long before the Game Genie existed. Action Replay improved on the Game Genie's functionality by adding an enable/disable switch. The cheat codes, at the time, were published in a more logical hexadecimal format compared with Codemasters' obfuscated system. This meant that users, along with the trainer, could make their own cheat codes.
Ultimately Codemasters and Galoob dropped the Game Genie entirely leaving Datel as the only cheat device manufacturer in the world.
. The GameShark was hugely successful. By now Datel had produced dozens of cheat devices for numerous systems. The most successful being the ones for the Game Boy, and the PlayStations 1 and 2.
Interact, the distributors for GameShark, went out of business in 2005 and their parent company sold the GameShark brand name to Mad Catz
for US$5 million. Currently Datel are selling that product under their Action Replay
brand.
Datel, creators of the Max Media Dock line, also makes hard drive add-ons and wireless adapters for PSP
, Nintendo DS
and Wii
. There is an active homebrew
community surrounding the Max Media Dock for Nintendo DS
.
In 2008, the company released the Wii Freeloader
, which allows users to circumvent regional lockout
on the Wii video game console.
In 2009 the TurboFire was released for the PS3. It has a modified design and offers turbo functions for the buttons. Unlike most aftermarket controllers the TurboFire uses Bluetooth and connects wirelessly to the PS3 without the need for an adapter.
Datel operates the TV station Max TV, on Sky Digital, Channel 675.
filed a lawsuit in California court against Datel Electronics and Interact Accessories. Datel had allegedly logged on using Interact Accessories' Sony developer user name and password and accessed official developer software from an IP that resolved to datel.co.uk. The case was settled out of court.
In early 2009, Sony filed a suit against Datel for its Lite Blue Tool. The product was a sequel to the Datel Tool battery, which acted like a Pandora battery which caused a Sony PlayStation Portable
(PSP) to enter into Jigkick or Factory programming mode, allowing the execution of the boot code from a removable storage. The Lite Blue tool compensated for the fact that the new factory mode was encrypted. Datel withdrew this product shortly after action was announced.
On 20 November 2009, Datel filed a legal complaint against Microsoft
in the Northern District of California for violations of §§1–2 of the Sherman act
and §3 of the Clayton Antitrust Act; for unfair competition; and for tortious interference with prospective economic advantage. In response Microsoft has filled patent infringement suits over the styling of their wildfire controllers.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-based electronics and game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
peripheral
Peripheral
A peripheral is a device attached to a host computer, but not part of it, and is more or less dependent on the host. It expands the host's capabilities, but does not form part of the core computer architecture....
s manufacturer. The company is best known for producing a wide range of hardware and peripherals for home computer
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
s in the 1980s, for example replacement keyboards for the ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
, the PlusD disk interface (originally designed and sold by Miles Gordon Technology
Miles Gordon Technology
Miles Gordon Technology, known as MGT, was a small British company, initially specialising in high-quality add-ons for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum home computer. It was named for its founders, Alan Miles and Bruce Gordon and was founded in Cambridge, England in June 1986, by the two ex-Sinclair...
) and the Action Replay
Action Replay
Action Replay is the brand name of a series of video game cheating devices created by Datel. As of 2010, Action Replays are currently available for some of the current major gaming platforms which include the Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi, PlayStation 2, and the PlayStation Portable, and many older...
series of video game cheating devices.
Datel was the brainchild of Mike Connors, who still runs the company and has been mentioned in The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
as one of the country's top thousand richest people.
1980s
Datel started off selling AM CB radioCitizens' band radio
Citizens' Band radio is, in many countries, a system of short-distance radio communications between individuals on a selection of 40 channels within the 27-MHz band. Citizens' Band is distinct from the FRS, GMRS, MURS and amateur radio...
transceivers in the UK. These AM-band radios were made illegal in the UK and even the importing of them was deemed illegal. Datel then started to import the CB radios in component form and build them up.
The company started to manufacture products related to home computers that were popular in the 1980s such as the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
and ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
. Such devices included silicon discs, light pen
Light pen
A light pen is a computer input device in the form of a light-sensitive wand used in conjunction with a computer's CRT TV set or monitor. It allows the user to point to displayed objects, or draw on the screen, in a similar way to a touch screen but with greater positional accuracy...
s and memory expansion. One of their first commercial successes was joystick interfaces for the ZX Spectrum.
The greatest commercial success of Datel was the Action Replay
Action Replay
Action Replay is the brand name of a series of video game cheating devices created by Datel. As of 2010, Action Replays are currently available for some of the current major gaming platforms which include the Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi, PlayStation 2, and the PlayStation Portable, and many older...
, first for the Commodore 64 and then the Commodore Amiga. The Commodore 64 version was designed by Richard Bond, with six versions ultimately developed in all. The Commodore Amiga version was authored by two German students, Olaf Boehm and Joerg Zanger, who had been inspired by the earlier Commodore 64 version.
The Commodore 64 and Amiga Action Replays included the ability to save the entire contents of a home computer
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
's memory to floppy disk
Floppy disk
A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
or compact audio cassette, and then to reload very quickly. This proved extremely popular with people, especially when the Commodore 64 could take 20 minutes to load a game from notoriously unreliable tape. It also did not escape people's attention that you could use Action Replays to copy games. The name Action Replay
Action Replay
Action Replay is the brand name of a series of video game cheating devices created by Datel. As of 2010, Action Replays are currently available for some of the current major gaming platforms which include the Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi, PlayStation 2, and the PlayStation Portable, and many older...
referred to the fact that you could instantly restart a game from the position that you had saved it.
Another feature the Amiga and Commodore 64 versions had in common was the ability to add POKE
PEEK and POKE
In computing, PEEK is a BASIC programming language extension used for reading the contents of a memory cell at a specified address. The corresponding command to set the contents of a memory cell is POKE.-Statement syntax:...
s, or cheats. They also had a system for finding pokes called a Pokefinder, or trainer.
Datel also made numerous unique copy devices for various systems that proved extremely popular. Devices such as the Syncro Express as well as the Action Replay exerted a heavy toll on the fledgeling video games industry. It has been said that Datel in part was responsible for the demise of the home computer games market. Hundreds of thousands of Syncro Express units, each copying 10 to 100 games, may have had an impact. The 1988 Act Copyright law of the United Kingdom
Copyright law of the United Kingdom
The modern concept of copyright originated in the United Kingdom, in the year 1710, with the Statute of Anne.The current copyright law of the United Kingdom is to be found in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 , as amended...
was designed to halt the casual copying of games in this way.
1990s
During the 1990s, many companies that had been successful in the 1980s started to struggle. Miles Gordon technology sold their innovative PlusD drive to Datel to assist their ailing SAM CoupéSAM Coupé
The SAM Coupé is an 8-bit British home computer that was first released in late 1989. It is commonly considered a clone of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer, since it features a compatible screen mode and emulated compatibility, and it was marketed as a logical upgrade from the Spectrum...
project. The OCP Art Studio painting software was also successful, in part due to the bundled mouse
Mouse (computing)
In computing, a mouse is a pointing device that functions by detecting two-dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface. Physically, a mouse consists of an object held under one of the user's hands, with one or more buttons...
, which was a novelty on 8-bit systems. People bought it to make their home computer
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
s feel like a personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
.
During the mid-'90s, home computers, which were almost exclusively used for games, started to be replaced by video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
s. Datel took the Pokes and Pokefinder features of the earlier Action Replays and created Action Replay for the Sega Mega Drive. This was followed shortly after by the Action Replay Pro, which used a superior system sometimes referred to as RAM stuffing. This, combined with a built-in Trainer, allowed users to easily find their own codes.
The Action Replay was in competition for some time with Codemasters
Codemasters
The Codemasters Software Company Limited, or Codemasters is a British video game developer founded by Richard and David Darling in 1986...
' Game Genie
Game Genie
The Game Genie is a series of cheat systems designed by Codemasters and sold by Camerica and Galoob for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Mega Drive/Genesis, and Sega Game Gear that modifies game data, allowing the player to cheat, manipulate various...
, which was distributed by Galoob
Galoob
Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. was a toy company headquartered on Forbes Blvd. in South San Francisco, California. Best known for distributing the Game Genie, a videogame cheat device, for Codemasters in the US, Galoob was founded by Barbara Frankel and Lewis Galoob in 1954 as an import business. Before...
. At first, Codemasters tried to protect the Game Genie as they had filed a patent on cartridge cheat devices, Datel defended this by saying that they had been cheating at games since long before the Game Genie existed. Action Replay improved on the Game Genie's functionality by adding an enable/disable switch. The cheat codes, at the time, were published in a more logical hexadecimal format compared with Codemasters' obfuscated system. This meant that users, along with the trainer, could make their own cheat codes.
Ultimately Codemasters and Galoob dropped the Game Genie entirely leaving Datel as the only cheat device manufacturer in the world.
2000s
After numerous unsuccessful attempts at breaking into the huge USA market, Datel finally started dealing with Interact Accessories with a new name, the GameSharkGameShark
GameShark is the brand name of a line of video game cheat cartridges and other products for a variety of console video game systems and Windows based computers. Currently, the brand name is owned by Mad Catz, who actively markets GameShark products for the PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, and Sega game...
. The GameShark was hugely successful. By now Datel had produced dozens of cheat devices for numerous systems. The most successful being the ones for the Game Boy, and the PlayStations 1 and 2.
Interact, the distributors for GameShark, went out of business in 2005 and their parent company sold the GameShark brand name to Mad Catz
Mad Catz
Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. is a peripherals manufacturer for various video game consoles headquartered in San Diego, California. It produces a wide range of accessories including control pads, memory cards, connection cables, headphones and other human interface devices.- History :The company was...
for US$5 million. Currently Datel are selling that product under their Action Replay
Action Replay
Action Replay is the brand name of a series of video game cheating devices created by Datel. As of 2010, Action Replays are currently available for some of the current major gaming platforms which include the Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi, PlayStation 2, and the PlayStation Portable, and many older...
brand.
Datel, creators of the Max Media Dock line, also makes hard drive add-ons and wireless adapters for PSP
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
, Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
and Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
. There is an active homebrew
Homebrew (video games)
Homebrew is a term frequently applied to video games or other software produced by consumers to target proprietary hardware platforms not typically user-programmable or that use proprietary storage methods...
community surrounding the Max Media Dock for Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
.
In 2008, the company released the Wii Freeloader
Wii Freeloader
Wii Freeloader is a bootdisc developed by Datel to circumvent regional lockout on the Wii video game console. It allows the playing of games from other regions, but does not allow the use of DVD±R, commonly used for backups, copies or homebrew. It can be used in combination with a modchip to allow...
, which allows users to circumvent regional lockout
Regional lockout
Regional lockout is the programming practice, code, chip, or physical barrier used to prevent the playing of media designed for a device from the country where it is marketed on the version of the same device marketed in another country.-Video games:...
on the Wii video game console.
In 2009 the TurboFire was released for the PS3. It has a modified design and offers turbo functions for the buttons. Unlike most aftermarket controllers the TurboFire uses Bluetooth and connects wirelessly to the PS3 without the need for an adapter.
Datel operates the TV station Max TV, on Sky Digital, Channel 675.
Legal
In the 1990s, SonySony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
filed a lawsuit in California court against Datel Electronics and Interact Accessories. Datel had allegedly logged on using Interact Accessories' Sony developer user name and password and accessed official developer software from an IP that resolved to datel.co.uk. The case was settled out of court.
In early 2009, Sony filed a suit against Datel for its Lite Blue Tool. The product was a sequel to the Datel Tool battery, which acted like a Pandora battery which caused a Sony PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
(PSP) to enter into Jigkick or Factory programming mode, allowing the execution of the boot code from a removable storage. The Lite Blue tool compensated for the fact that the new factory mode was encrypted. Datel withdrew this product shortly after action was announced.
On 20 November 2009, Datel filed a legal complaint against Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
in the Northern District of California for violations of §§1–2 of the Sherman act
Sherman Antitrust Act
The Sherman Antitrust Act requires the United States federal government to investigate and pursue trusts, companies, and organizations suspected of violating the Act. It was the first Federal statute to limit cartels and monopolies, and today still forms the basis for most antitrust litigation by...
and §3 of the Clayton Antitrust Act; for unfair competition; and for tortious interference with prospective economic advantage. In response Microsoft has filled patent infringement suits over the styling of their wildfire controllers.