Imagine Software
Encyclopedia
- For the American company, see Imagine Software (US)Imagine Software (US)Imagine Software Inc., founded in 1993 in New York City, is the developer of the Imagine Trading System, a real time institutional-grade portfolio and risk management system. Imagine Software Inc...
Imagine Software was a British
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...
video games developer based in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
which existed briefly in the early 1980s, initially producing software 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...
and VIC-20. The company rose quickly to prominence and was noted for its polished, high-budget approach to packaging and advertising (at a time when this was not commonplace in the British software industry), as well as its self-promotion and ambition.
Following Imagine's prominent demise under mounting debts in 1984, the name was bought and used as a label by Ocean Software
Ocean Software
The British company Ocean Software was one of the biggest European video game developers/publishers of the 1980s and 90s...
until the late-1980s.
History
Imagine Software was founded in 1982 by former members of Bug-ByteBug-Byte
Bug-Byte Software Ltd. was a company founded in 1980 by Tony Baden and Tony Milner, two Oxford chemistry graduates. It was one of the first to develop a range of 8-bit computer games during the early 1980s, for Sinclair, Commodore and other home computer brands, particularly for the Spectrum...
including Mark Butler, David Lawson and Eugene Evans. Mark and Eugene had previously worked at Microdigital, one of the first computer stores in the UK. Imagine Software produced several very successful games, including Arcadia for the Vic 20 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...
, before running into financial trouble in late 1983.
Rumours of Imagine's financial situation began to circulate in December 1983 following the revelations that an estimated £50,000 of its advertising bills had not been paid. The following year the debts mounted, with further advertising and tape
Magnetic tape
Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording, made of a thin magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic. It was developed in Germany, based on magnetic wire recording. Devices that record and play back audio and video using magnetic tape are tape recorders and video tape recorders...
duplication bills going unpaid, and Imagine was forced to sell the rights to its games to Beau Jolly in order to raise money. The company then achieved nationwide notoriety when it was filmed the following year by a BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
crew while in the process of going spectacularly bust
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
Mark Butler can also be seen on Thames Television's 'Daytime' programme in 1984, talking about being a millionaire who lost money at such a young age.
On the 28th of June 1984 a writ
Writ
In common law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court...
was issued against Imagine by VNU Business Press for money owed for advertising in Personal Computer Games
Personal Computer Games
Personal Computer Games was a multi-format UK computer games mag of the early/mid eighties.-History:It is famous for launching the careers of several notable games journalists of the '80s including Bob Wade, Peter Connor and Chris Anderson. Anderson would later launch Amstrad Action, and Future...
magazine, and the company was wound up on 9 July 1984 at the High Court
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
after it was unable to raise the £10,000 required to pay this debt (though by this time its total debts ran to hundreds of thousands of pounds).
Former programmers went on to establish Psygnosis and Denton Designs
Denton Designs
Denton Designs was a British video games developer based in Liverpool. The company was founded in 1984 and initially specialised in developing software for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum home computer...
. The company's back catalogue was owned by Beau Jolly, while rights to the Imagine label were acquired by Ocean Software
Ocean Software
The British company Ocean Software was one of the biggest European video game developers/publishers of the 1980s and 90s...
, which used it to publish 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...
conversions of popular arcade games under the name of Imagine Studios. The final game bearing the Imagine name was released in 1989.
Megagames
Imagine had intended to develop six so-called "Megagames", the most well-known of which were Psyclapse and Bandersnatch. These games were designed to push the boundaries of the hardware of the time, even to the extent that they were intended to be released with a hardware add-on which would have increased the capabilities of the computer, as well as guarding against piracy. The games were advertised heavily and would have retailed at around £30 - an expensive price tag when the average price of a game at the time was £7.20 - but Imagine's collapse meant that they remained vaporwareVaporware
Vaporware is a term in the computer industry that describes a product, typically computer hardware or software, that is announced to the general public but is never actually released nor officially canceled. Vaporware is also a term sometimes used to describe events that are announced or predicted,...
and never saw the light of day.
Games
As Imagine Software- Arcadia, 1982
- Wacky Waiters, 1982
- Catcha Snatcha, 1983
- Ah DiddumsAh DiddumsAh Diddums is a computer game for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 home computers released by Imagine in 1983.-Gameplay:The player controls a Teddy Bear who is trying to escape a toy box in order to comfort his crying baby owner. Teddy's job is to arrange building blocks in a certain order in the...
, 1983 - StonkersStonkersStonkers is one of the earliest real-time strategy games. It was written for the ZX Spectrum and published by Imagine Software in 1983. It was designed and programmed by John Gibson with graphics by Paul Lindale.-Summary:...
, 1983 - Zip Zap, 1983
- ZzoomZzoomZzoom is a computer game developed by John Gibson, Mark Butler and Steve Blower for the ZX Spectrum and released by Imagine Software in 1983...
, 1983 - AlchemistAlchemist (video game)Alchemist is a computer game developed by Ian Weatherburn for the ZX Spectrum and released by Imagine Software in 1983. It is an action-adventure game in which the player controls an alchemist who may transform into a golden eagle.-History:...
, 1983 - Schizoids, 1983
- Molar MaulMolar MaulMolar Maul is an arcade video game released for the ZX Spectrum. It was created in 1983 for Imagine Software)....
, 1983 - Jumping JackJumping Jack (game)Jumping Jack is a platform game created by Albert Ball and Stuart C. Ball for the ZX Spectrum 16K in 1983. It was available for the Atari 8-bit computers and Dragon 32 under the name Leggit!....
aka Leggit!, 1983 - Bewitched, 1983
- BC BillBC BillB.C. Bill is a 1984 game released by Imagine Software for several computer systems of the time.The game features its hero, caveman B.C. Bill, setting out to build a family. He is armed with a club, with which he can hit and either stun or kill a variety of roaming creatures...
, 1984 - PedroPedro (video game)Pedro is a computer game developed by Frank Johnson, Aidan Rajswing, Andrew Impson, Brian Carpenter and Steve Cain for the ZX Spectrum and released by Imagine Software in 1984...
, 1984 - Cosmic Cruiser, 1984
- Wizadore, 1984
Under Ocean Software's Imagine Studios label
- Hyper SportsHyper SportsHyper Sports is a video game published in 1984. It is the sequel to Konami's Track & Field and features seven all-new Olympic events. Like its predecessor, Hyper Sports featured two run buttons and one action button per player....
, 1985 - MikieMikieMikie, known in Japan as , is a arcade game by Konami where the player must guide a student called "Mikie" around the school, classroom, and locker room to collect hearts which make up a letter from his girlfriend Mandy while being chased by various members of the school staff...
, 1985 - World Series Baseball, 1985
- Yie Ar Kung-Fu, 1985
- Army MovesArmy MovesArmy Moves is a scrolling shooter game developed by Dinamic Software for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MSX and ZX Spectrum. It was first released in and published by Dinamic in Spain and by Imagine Software. Dinamic Software also developed a MS-DOS version of the game, published...
, 1986 - Green BeretRush'n AttackRush'n Attack, originally released in Japan and Europe as , is an action/platform arcade game released by Konami in 1985. Rush'n Attack is remembered for its Cold War setting and its reliance on the player using a knife to dispatch enemies...
, 1986 - M.O.V.I.E.M.O.V.I.E.M.O.V.I.E. is a video game written by Dusko Dimitrijevic for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC and was published by Imagine Software in 1986.-Plot:...
, 1986 - Psycho SoldierPsycho Soldieris an action arcade game developed by Japanese software company SNK that was originally released in 1986 and internationally in 1987. It is somewhat of a sequel to Athena released a year earlier, Psycho Soldier continues the adventures of Athena, and is noteworthy for being the first video game...
, 1987 - RenegadeRenegade (video game)Renegade is a video game released in American and European arcades in 1986 by Taito. It is a westernized conversion of the Japanese arcade game , released earlier the same year by Technos...
, 1987 - Freddy Hardest, 1987
- ArkanoidArkanoidis an arcade game developed by Taito in 1986. It is based upon Atari's Breakout games of the 1970s. The title refers to a doomed "mothership" from which the player's ship, the Vaus, escapes.-Overview:...
, 1987 - Target: RenegadeTarget: RenegadeTarget; Renegade is a scrolling beat'em up computer game released on the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum systems in the late 1980s by Ocean Software on their "Imagine" label, as well as a Nintendo Entertainment System version published by Taito. The game is a sequel to Renegade and was...
, 1988 - Bad Dudes vs. DragonNinja, 1988
- WEC Le MansWEC Le MansWEC Le Mans, is a sim racing arcade game released in November 1986 by Konami. It was the first video game to depict the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Lap of Le Mans is split up into 3 sections, as you pass through each of the 3 sections, the time of day changes from day to dusk, dusk to night, and night...
, 1988 - Salamander, 1988
- Victory Road, 1989
External links
- The Bubble Bursts - article from CRASHCRASH (magazine)Crash was a magazine dedicated to the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was published from 1984 to 1991 by Newsfield Publications Ltd until their liquidation, and then until 1992 by Europress.-Development:...
documenting the fall of Imagine Software - Imagine Software profile on MobyGamesMobyGames-Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...
- Commercial Breaks, the 1984 BBC documentary about Imagine