Sham Mountebank
@shammountebank.bsky.social
Sub par since 1989 https://whereweretheynow.blogspot.com/
After Richard Paul Jones proved too capitalist for Jeff Minter, his Interceptor Micros became an early British games success story. In 1987, its success continued thanks to Colin Swinbourne's smart way with building on Spectrum classics. New post on Joe Blade: www.superchartisland.com/joe-blade
Joe Blade – “Prime the explosives”
The increasing success of Code Masters in 1987 prompted rounds of coverage of the Darling brothers as young business whizz-kids. They were far from the first such story. The next new game at #1 aft…
superchartisland.com
A trip to Derby for a new blog post about Core Design, creators of Tomb Raider. Thanks to @retrohistories.bsky.social for suggesting this article. whereweretheynow.blogspot.com/2026/08/core... #RetroGaming #RetroComputing #PlayStation
Core Design
whereweretheynow.blogspot.com
Chris Chapman@retrohistories.bsky.social · 4mo agoOkay, no idea about dates, but their first office (after Gremlin Derby, I think, but maybe even before?) was in the city centre somewhere. They weren't there for long and I can't find an address (I don't even know if they shipped any games while there) but it must be in print *somewhere*.
airbnb I’m staying at unintentionally created the toughest punk album cover of 2027
An update to the Graftgold article in which I finally get a photo of their original office in Witham. I am no longer cloaked in shame from my 2022 mistake. What a time to be alive! whereweretheynow.blogspot.com/2022/02/graf... #Amstrad #C64 #ZXSpectrum #AtariST #Amiga #RetroGaming #RetroComputing
Graftgold
whereweretheynow.blogspot.com
In 1983, a couple of 15 year old programmers with a pragmatic streak made a virtual board game in Basic and won a national TV competition. Four years later, they made their first UK #1 game of many. New post on the Oliver Twins and Grand Prix Simulator: www.superchartisland.com/grand-prix-simulator
Grand Prix Simulator – “Cunningly devised circuits”
In its January 1984 issue, Computer & Video Games magazine printed code listings for nine different games, ready for readers to type into their computers and run. Each of the nine programs was …
superchartisland.com
Bill Oddie, what a lovely bloke. He wrote us a letter when we started making The Young Ones, wishing us the very best, and warning us against interference from higher up. He didn’t know anyone in the cast personally. It just came out of the blue. Lovely thing to do.
The truly remarkable "Carry On Christ" page, from "The Making of The Goodies Disaster Movie" book. Just look at... (waves hands in delight) everything in this. Including Judith Iscariot.
I really like this blog post by Rob, although it makes me realise how far I've drifted from paying any attention to recent developments in gaming. Teenage me would be very disappointed.
Rob, The Bishop Of Bobbins@fishwithlasers.bsky.social · 2w agoDouble A Saves The Day (via Eurogamer) I have to be careful these days because reading Eurogamer can result in some terrible brain aches with just one click. Every now and then they still run a gem like the recent piece on ladders in videogames (I have not learned to love them, they are wicked…
A great game and the inspiration for another fantastic piece of magazine cover art from Oliver Frey. CRASH editor Roger Keen supposedly modelled the pose but not the physique.
Iain Mew@superchartisland.com · 2w ago“As he steps out of the local subway station, he soon realises what a plonker he is to venture onto this turf”. The story of how Ocean successfully translated the first Kunio-kun game onto home computers for the UK. With only one set of legs! New post on Renegade: www.superchartisland.com/renegade
Gizmondo. A new blog post about the worst selling console ever (so far). whereweretheynow.blogspot.com/2026/07/gizm... #Retrogames #Retrogaming #Gizmondo
Gizmondo Europe
whereweretheynow.blogspot.com
Andy Burnham unveils his new Minister for AI.
Joe Scaramanga@joescaramanga.co.uk · 2w agoAndy Burnham unveils his new Minister for AI.
Article now updated with a section on the references of Crystal/Design Design on their ZX Spectrum games.
Sham Mountebank@shammountebank.bsky.social · last mo.A look at the way some UK software houses tapped into the imagination of Douglas Adams. whereweretheynow.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-...
I love Massimo Belardinelli's artwork. I didn't like it as a kid ( I thought it was too messy!) but I've really come to appreciate it. If I could own one piece of 2000AD artwork it would be these three panels from Blackhawk.
2000AD Randomizer@2000adrandom.bsky.social · 3w agoMassimo Belardinelli
In 1982, a maths teacher in Birmingham set up a company to make educational software, staffed by his former students. Five years later, one of their games hit #1 in the UK sales chart. This is the odd story of how they got from A to B. New post on Run for Gold: www.superchartisland.com/run-for-gold
Run for Gold – “Load runners from tape”
In 1980, the British government set up the Microelectronics Education Programme, MEP, with an initial budget of £12 million for four years. It was aimed at schools, and had the dual intention of “e…
superchartisland.com
How did a developer that started as a war game specialist end up making a game about a cycling race? Why did the game climb to UK #1 months after the real life race finished? And what does all that have to do with the price of milk? New post on Milk Race: www.superchartisland.com/milk-race
Milk Race – “Chelmsford – Milton Keynes”
In 1932, Britain’s national coalition government, headed by Labour Party co-founder Ramsey McDonald, decided to take action to stabilise the dairy industry. The following year, it set up a co-opera…
superchartisland.com
A look at the way some UK software houses tapped into the imagination of Douglas Adams. whereweretheynow.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-...
The Hitchhiker's Guide to Copyright Infringement
whereweretheynow.blogspot.com
The Carver brothers and Access Software set new golf game standards with Leader Board. Then they built on that further. Trees! Sand traps! Ahead-of-their-time licensed expansion packs! New post on World Class Leader Board: www.superchartisland.com/world-class-leader-board
World Class Leader Board – “Gauntlet Country Club”
“When I joined the company, I kind of had an idea of what I thought quality was and where the bar was to meet in terms of delivering a quality product. But Bruce’s bar was so much higher, and…
superchartisland.com
“Now just hold your horses, everyone. … Let’s let it run for a minute or so and see if it gets any colder.”
The kids of 1976 didn’t moan about the heatwave on social media they got out and made their own fun
Mark Cale and System 3 set out to "take the square cursor blob from Adventure on the Atari 2600 and turn it into a fully interactive 3D adventure". With a ninja theme. It wasn't straightforward but the result was a defining C64 game. New post on The Last Ninja: superchartisland.com/the-last-ninja
The Last Ninja – “A vase is waiting”
Mark Cale had a vision, a plan to “do something a bit different, something that would really capture the imagination”. Like the creators of The Hobbit and Valhalla a few years earlier, he wanted to…
superchartisland.com
Fantasy Software. A new blog post about the software house who released a game called Backpackers Guide to the Universe and got a letter from solicitors acting for Douglas Adams. whereweretheynow.blogspot.com/2026/06/fant... #Amstrad #C64 #ZXSpectrum #RetroGaming #RetroComputing
Fantasy
whereweretheynow.blogspot.com
Where's my officially licensed Jupiter Ace Morse Code Tapper?
Official Camputers Ltd Account@social.camputers.com · 2mo agoToday we announce the Camputers Tactile Inter-Personal Connection device. Taking us all back to a time when communication was more important, so important you had to return home to do it and wait for the phone to be available AND hope the person you were calling was at home #NotABrandSlap
Dear Gareth Roberts, The BBC who made the Doctor Who you are nostalgic for no longer exists. This is due to the owners and readers of The Spectator, to whom you pander. Yours etc,
John Hill@hbkjohnhill.bsky.social · 2mo agoIt’s alright Whovian’s, Gareth Roberts has a few ideas!!! 😒😒😒 #DoctorWho
Barbarian was great fun. Another game that was a real time sink for my brother and I. The decapitation move even got a rare seal of approval from my dad. The goblin coming in and kicking the head made it funny rather than shocking.
Iain Mew@superchartisland.com · 2mo agoPalace Software had close links to the UK's mid-80s 'video nasties' moral panic. So close that police raided their office. Then Palace made their own video game nasty, propelled to #1 by controversy as well as the game's strengths. New post on Barbarian: www.superchartisland.com/barbarian