Blasts from the past...

Y'know, other stuff, Sinclair related.
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5MinuteRetro
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Blasts from the past...

Post by 5MinuteRetro »

So... for dull reasons I was just Googling Romantic Robot, of Multiface One fame, and I was gobsmacked to find that it's apparently a going concern, with an active website: http://www.romantic-robot.com/ (Warning: Flash-based horrors and plinky-plonk muzak await all those who click...)

Which other small softies/hardies from back in the day are still operating, I wonder? Obviously there's Rare but I'm not sure they really count -- because it's cleary not the 'same' company as way back when. I'm thinking about Romantic Robot-stature outfits: the little bedroom operations that many of us would've known in the Speccy's heyday but that we'd assumed had long since disappeared.

There must be a few others that have somehow carried on, and are still actively trading...
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Re: Blasts from the past...

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Elite? :(
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Re: Blasts from the past...

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Rorthron wrote: Fri Jun 29, 2018 3:38 pmElite? :(
Good one! Or, er, not. ;)

(Though to be fair to Mr Wilcox, he did at least produce *something* as a result of his Kickstarter. I imagine there are other Spectrum-related crowd-funded projects that are faring rather less well.)
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Re: Blasts from the past...

Post by PeterJ »

I think Zenobi is still around, and System3.

http://www.system3.com
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Re: Blasts from the past...

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Re: Blasts from the past...

Post by Ralf »

Codemasters, although I'm not sure if it classifies as small :
http://www.codemasters.com/
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Re: Blasts from the past...

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PeterJ wrote: Fri Jun 29, 2018 4:41 pm I think Zenobi is still around, and System3.

http://www.system3.com
I think I always associated System 3 with the Commodore 64. Dunno why as the firm clearly did a bit for the Spec, but there you go. Good one, though.
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Re: Blasts from the past...

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Rorthron wrote: Fri Jun 29, 2018 4:43 pm Durell:

http://durell.co.uk
This one is great! I had no idea Durell were still around. To my mind, that makes it kind of a shame that Clive Townsend went it alone with Saboteur 3. Could've shoved it on one of those blue plastic cassettes. I'd have bought it, anyways.
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Re: Blasts from the past...

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Ralf wrote: Fri Jun 29, 2018 9:15 pm Codemasters, although I'm not sure if it classifies as small :
http://www.codemasters.com/
Yep, although for me it doesn't count as I knew that Codies had never gone away.
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Re: Blasts from the past...

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5MinuteRetro wrote: Sat Jun 30, 2018 12:40 am
Rorthron wrote: Fri Jun 29, 2018 4:43 pm Durell:

http://durell.co.uk
This one is great! I had no idea Durell were still around. To my mind, that makes it kind of a shame that Clive Townsend went it alone with Saboteur 3. Could've shoved it on one of those blue plastic cassettes. I'd have bought it, anyways.
...and it's similarly a shame that Durell seems to have airbrushed its Speccy days from its history: http://durell.co.uk/about/

I get that businesses sometimes need to reinvent themselves to remain relevant but I think the firm's missing a trick by not maintaining at least a brief history section on its About page. Plenty of its current target audience will have been the target audience of its past.
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Re: Blasts from the past...

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5MinuteRetro wrote: Sat Jun 30, 2018 12:48 am ...and it's similarly a shame that Durell seems to have airbrushed its Speccy days from its history: http://durell.co.uk/about/

I get that businesses sometimes need to reinvent themselves to remain relevant but I think the firm's missing a trick by not maintaining at least a brief history section on its About page. Plenty of its current target audience will have been the target audience of its past.
I don't think it would do their business-software-targeted SEO any good to touch on their gaming past.
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Re: Blasts from the past...

Post by druellan »

Want to mention Appaloosa Interactive or Novotrade Software Kft from Hungary, that started working with Mirrorsoft in 1983, and was active until they closed on 2006.
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