LukasArts/Lucasfilm Games
Founded in 1971 by George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd. was an American film and television production company. Lucasfilm Games was founded in May 1982 and became globally known for their fantastic point-and-click adventure games. Later, Lucasfilm Games focused on the 'Star Wars' series of games.
- Ron Gilbert, who joined Lucasfilm in 1985, created a new engine called SCUMM, along with 'Maniac Mansion'
- SCUMM stands for "Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion" and enables users to control the game with graphics (point-and-click) and without the need for text inputs
- Lucasfilm Games was known as LucasArts between 1990 and 2013
- In 2012, Lucasfilm was acquired by "The Walt Disney Company"
- Lucasfilm has released tens of 'Star Wars' games
The 9-pin Greek Joystics that Refuse to Die
In the 80s, several manufacturers in Greece created high-quality joysticks for the 8-bit and 16-bit home micros. They used hard-plastic shells, microswitch controllers, and professional sticks to build joysticks that were as good as the ones of the arcade machines.
Psygnosis Big Boxes
Psygnosis Limited or "Studio Liverpool" was a legendary British video game developer headquartered at Wavertree Technology Park in Liverpool, UK. They became world-known by releasing amazing titles for Commodore Amiga. These titles were packed in fantastic big boxes that set the standards for box artwork in the video games industry.
"Roland MT-32.. the Orchestra inside your PC or Home Computer"
Released in 1987 by the Japanese manufacturer Roland Corporation, the MT-32 was the standard MIDI device for PC games in the 80s. Hundreds of video games support the MT-32 on various platforms (IBM PCs, Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, MAC, etc.) Notable mentions include several adventure games from Sierra and Lucasfilm.
- The MT-32 Multi-Timbre Sound Module is a MIDI synthesizer module featuring a preset library of 158 sounds and 9 channels
- Several platforms used the MT32, including PCs, Mac, Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, Apple IIGS, PC-8800 series, NEC PC-98, and Sharp X68000
- In 1987, the device cost $695 (equivalent to $1,700 in 2022)
The Home Computer market began in the early 1980s when the price-reduction of hardware components made computers affordable for the average European and American family.
During the first half of the decade, many 8-bit computers were released, most of which were based on Z80 and MOS 6510 CPUs.
Table: Popular 8-bit Computers and their CPUs
MOS-BASED |
ZILOG-BASED |
MOTOROLLA-BASED |
|
|
|
Commodore 8-bit (PET, VIC, 16, Plus/4, C64, and C128) |
Amstrad 464, 664, and 6128 CPC |
TRS‑80 Color Computer |
Apple 8-bit (Apple II and III) |
Sinclair's Z80, Z81, and ZX Spectrums |
Thomson Computers |
Atari 8-bit (400, 800, XL, and XE) |
MSX/MSX2 |
Sinclair QL |
Acorn 8-bit (Master, Atom, BBC, and Electron) |
TRS-80 Model |
|
Oric (Oric 1, Atmos, and Telestrat) |
Grundy NewBrain |
|
|
Jupiter Ace |
|
|
Enterprise |
|
SAM Coupe |
A comparison of 16-bit computer systems (IBM, Apple, Amiga, Atari, and Acorn Archimedes).
By comparing the features and the price tag (in today's money) of different systems, we can understand how well these computers were competing against each other.