Spectrum Computing

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...

Elite?

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.)

I think Zenobi is still around, and System3.

http://www.system3.com

Durell:

http://durell.co.uk

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.